Family time.

As you may have read in my last post, life has been crazy for us lately and we haven't had a ton of time to spend together as a family. We try and have dinner together every night, and although it takes a bit more flexibility and coordination some weeks than others, I must say we have been doing a pretty good job of sticking to it! In our old place, dinners would consist of kneeling at our coffee table while watching tv to unwind after our long days and these dinners usually didn't involve a lot of conversing. Now don't get me wrong....the hubby and I do talk to one another.....just not usually over dinner. I don't know about all of you, but I grew up with the family gathering around the table for dinner as much as possible. That being said, we were also a busy family and it wasn't always possible for all of us to be there, but if we were at home and dinner was being served we all ate together at the table. If Dad got home late from work, we ate later. If one of us had soccer or piano at 7, then we ate earlier and perhaps that night Dad would eat alone.....but for the most part, family dinners were the time to share the events of our days with each other and talk about plans the upcoming weekend etc. 

No tv. No music. No radio. Just uninterrupted family time. 

Looking back on it, I loved those times and that's what I want for Alexis. Now that she is eating real food and our new place has an actual separate dining room, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to reinstate family dinners. We put our phones away and talk about our day and laugh at the adorable things Alexis does while eating (silly uncoordinated babies are so entertaining). I picture when she's older and sharing what she did at school or how her <insert sport here> game went or..... even further down the line I expect girl drama and love problems will likely come up (if I am lucky enough that she will talk to us about those things...fingers crossed). It makes me tear up just thinking about it. She's growing up so fast. I mean.....I can't believe she's 10 months old and already got a mind of her own. I asked for a hug the other day and she shook her head no.....what?!? Denying me hugs already? Is she trying to break her poor momma's heart? Of course now she thinks it's funny and routinely wrestles her way out of my snuggling arms while shaking her head. Where did my cuddly baby go? My point is that when I was pregnant every parent I knew.....and even some strangers on the street come to think of it, took every opportunity to tell me to "enjoy every moment, because time will fly by faster than you can imagine once you have a kid". I would nod in agreement thinking I already knew what they meant, but I don't think I truly got it. Now I do.
It's not easy to get dinner ready with a baby that never stops moving (ever....even in her sleep!). Sometimes I get frustrated when hubby is later than anticipated and Alexis can no longer be distracted by books and cheerios, but then I think about how precious our time together is and how the routines we create now are the foundation for our family to grow on. If we put family first now, Alexis will learn to value family. 
Or at least I hope it's that easy. 
So we eat together. If it gets hard....we make it work. Family time is always worth fighting for. I hope Alexis grows to cherish these times together as much as I already do. 

♥ Lindsay