Savvy Sunday: Spending Individual Time With Your Kids (+ a Pumpkin Muffin Recipe!)

We have three kids ages 4, almost 3, and just turned one.  My husband works full time outside of the home and between all of my projects, I pretty much work full time IN the home.  It’s difficult to find quality find to spend together as a family, let alone individual one-on-one time to spend with each of our children.  We have to get creative because I think it’s important for our kids to have our undivided attention from time to time.  Today my husband took our middle child grocery shopping with him “to help him remember the list” while my oldest and I stayed home and baked Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins together while our youngest napped.

Baking with kids gives them a sense of accomplishment.  Jackson was so proud to give the muffins he made to Daddy and McKinley for snack when they got back from the grocery store.  I helped him measure out ingredients and he added them and helped mix.  We had a lot of fun together and the muffins he made turned out perfect! Here’s the recipe:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 Can (16 oz) pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups oil
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 package chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil until smooth.  Add in dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips.  Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop up and drop batter into greased or paper-lined muffin cups (so they are about 3/4 full).  Bake at 400 degrees for 16 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Makes about 30 muffins.

So while you may not always have the time to do the things you’d LIKE to do individually with your children, get creative and work out ways to give them the special attention they deserve in other ways.  We marked two things off of our to-do list today while still making the time spent together special.  Even when I just take one child with me to run errands, we have that time to talk without interruptions. Whether in the car, or from the grocery cart my kids have a lot to say when they can actually be heard (which can be difficult when 3 kids are competing for talk time).

How do you make special time with your kids?