As I have mentioned in the past, my getting one on one time with my 4yr old son is a rarity since the twins were born in January of '07. I always worry that we are not creating enough memories for Jake that he can look back upon and feel how special he is to us. What I've learned is that we must grab whatever moments we can whenever we can.After I filled in Jake's reward chart tonight, he learned that he had a total of 14 points. Immediately, he wanted to go look in the store (located in the corner of my bedroom). At first, he decided he wanted to save up enough points to buy a set of Jungle Book plush dolls which cost 20 points. Then to my surprise, he brings over a book to show me. It was this book of "Fairy Tales" from My First Treasury that he had passed over again and again and again in the past. He told me that he wanted to buy this book after he bought the Jungle Book dolls. He asked me if the sticker on the book read "12" points and I told him that it did. Then I pointed out that he actually had enough to purchase the book right away. The big smile and expression of excitement that took over his face was just so endearing.
Even though it was well past his bedtime, I told Jake to hop into bed with me and to choose one of the fairy tales for me to read to him right away. He chose "Hansel and Gretel." It was so sweet how attentive he was, listening to every word I uttered and gazing at the illustrations, while he rested his head on my shoulder. Normally, my husband reads Jake a bedtime story in his own bed, but I may try to do this every night in place of or in addition to that story. I really enjoyed the Mommy/Jake alone time and I think he did too.
