Lunchtime Painting...and Musings About Parenthood

As a working mother, I spend very little time with the Bees, unfortunately. However, as the Bees grow older with the commitment of long school days, especially in primary school, I stopped feeling guilty about not spending enough time with them at home - because they were simply not at home during substantial parts of the day! 

I do feel twangs at my heartstrings during school holidays though, because the Bees would be at home the entire day, and my mind would be constantly drifting to them at work! 

To ensure maximum time spent with my Bees despite the fact I work, I will 1) try to come home a couple of times a week during lunch so I could cuddle or do some simple learning with Little Bee and 2) leave work punctually on most days so I could run through Big Bee's homework and do my usual evening tutoring with her and Little Bee. If there is more work to be done, I will leave it till the Bees turn in for the night, before embarking on the 3rd shift of work. This arrangement had served me very well through the years, with the only disruptions in the guise of overseas work travel, which thankfully, I had been trying to cut down on. 

Hence, one lunchtime, when the Bees were both home on a single-day school holiday, I came home from work and decided to do some painting with them, before returning to work once they completed their paintings. 

I simply showed them some paintings in an art book and the Bees selected and painted their own preferred pictures.

It was such a relaxing activity and it truly rejuvenated me for the afternoon at work. The Bees were also much happier, even if it means spending a short 2 hours with me over lunch. 

Big Bee, who is an ardent beach lover like me, painted "Sunset On A Beach". She blended yellow, orange and red paints together to create stunning sunset hues. 

Little Bee painted "Outer Space". We used an old toothbrush, painted it white, and sprinkled white paint from it onto black paper to resemble the gazillions of stars in space. She then painted a rocket and a few other planets. 

I guess it is not the amount of time we spend with our children that matters, for I had seen far too many parents busy texting friends on their phones or playing games on iPad whenever they are with their children. To me as a working mum, every single precious moment counts (because I don't have much time with them!) and I try to make quality time for them as best as I could. 

Of course, as parents, there are days when the kids fight and make us so angry that I just want to hole up somewhere and ignore them altogether! There are also different phases in parenthood that really test us as adaptable parents. Phases where we need to adjust to changing mood swings from toddlers, then big kids, then tweens, then the scary adolescent stage (although tweenhood is beginning to scare me now!) and finally, young adults. Such undulating phases in our lives truly make parenthood very exciting, albeit challenging, and I am glad life is never boring after we have kids :)