Two-by-Two

Trying to be creative and manage the diverse needs of the two groups of kiddos in our home (those adopted as infants and those adopted as big kids) we have come up with some special time four days a week which we call two-by-two time, as in "the animals entered the ark two-by-two." For an hour each day after Nic gets home from work we each take two children for a purposeful activity. We switch groups of children every other day so they get to spend time with each of us. We have chosen to split up the kids by younger and older kids because their heart needs are different. The little ones have a very different understanding of adoption, family life, and trust. We are working toward protecting their hearts and helping them to trust God more to reach out in love. For the big kids we are working at building relationships with them and showing them that we are trustworthy, modeling a godly, loving, parent relationship for them to help them trust us and God more.

When we break up into smaller groups like this for a short period of time each day we find that it decreases the children's anxiety. We have really enjoyed our time with the kids and they look forward to it as well. In fact, they watch the clock in anticipation. They share with each other the special things they did with us and they are growing together and enjoying our family.

While it is not exactly one-on-one time with the children, it does allow for more individualized attention. The big girls and I are working through a Bible study from Loving the Lord Ministries. They have really enjoyed it so far. When they are with Nic they do fun, light-hearted stuff: bike rides, trips to the coffee shop for smoothies and board games, hiking, popcorn and board games at home, etc. The little kiddos and I are doing some relaxing little kid things: building forts, reading stories, playing legos, painting. Mostly we just play uninterrupted and talk about life together as a family. Nic does similar fun activities with the littles. It has been a blessing and an encouragement to all of us to take a brief time out from our day this way.