Pampered at Home: A "Bonding Appointment" with my child

I was in for a long day of meetings, so the night before I decided to set a "bonding appointment" with Reese. I told her that I'll be home a bit later than usual but when I get home, we'd have a mini spa date.I was so looking forward to our time together and knew what we had in store, but it was still such an awesome surprise to find what greeted me at home. It was a fully set up mini spa right in my bedroom!Our home spa apparently did not only offer footspa and massage,You can even have your nails done...and your hair too!So after my pretty attendant put in foot soak crystals in the water, my tired feet followed inShe even sets the music to complete the ambienceand says I am treated to a special dance performance pa!Ahhh, this sure makes me feel like a queen for a day. After a while though Reese remarks that massaging and scrubbing my feet makes her feel as if she was being "punished." Haha! After my feet had been pampered, she hands me a hair menu to choose from (parang sa Blo Manila! sosy:) hehe)I chose the "Camping" hairstyleShe's quite serious with the hair and estimates it will take some time so she gives me magazines to readWhat do you think of my "camping" hairdo?So afterwards, I tell her it is her turn and she immediately feels relaxed with her feet in the bubbling waterIn fact during the massage, she had almost fallen asleep...:)That was a simple and fun evening with my little one. A perfect way to end a day.As a mompreneur, our work is often entwined with our personal lives, just as work hours intersect with personal time. On weekends it is easy to just drop everything and set Saturday and Sunday as family time. But on weekdays, with school for the kids and work for us, the few hours together can just easily go by until we all go to bed, and then repeat the cycle when the sun comes up again.  Setting these scheduled bonding times, specially during the weekdays that sometimes get so busy, makes me (and my kids) look forward to something throughout the day until the scheduled time together.Now it's time to think of  what we can do next?:)-----What are the benefits of making "bonding appointments" with our kids and how do we make it count more?Sacred TimeWhile most of us moms really do set time after work till bedtime as "time for our kids", just verbally telling your kids that you have planned like a  "special campout storybook session" underneath hanging bedsheets rather than just our usual "bedtime story" will amp up your together time in their minds. For the kids, they know that the time for the "bonding appointment" has been set aside for them, and this makes them feel even more valued and important.Bonding Time = Memories = TraditionsSet the time and "label" it.  Experiences to bond with the kids that are specific and labelled like a spa date, a family movie, or board game night for example, creates ownership and recall, it creates memories that and done often enough  can lead to become family traditions.Simple can be GrandWith kids, props, preparations, special set ups usually don't matter. What matters is that we are spending time with them in a special way. So don't worry to much about the preparations, just do it:)Mom IncentiveI find that our "bonding appointments" have also become an additional perk to finally getting home after a busy day. Rather than just coming home to "be with my kids", having something specific like our spa date, makes it a mini event to look forward to.  The appointments also serve as prompts for me to unwind, reminds me to have quality focused time with the kids sans gadgets and the television and just enjoy our planned activity and each other's company.Make your bonding appointment with your child now and tell me about it!:)