There is a bad stigma around middle children – always ignored, never get any one:one time, everyone else is spoiled because they were the first or the baby etc. Being a middle child myself, I try to make sure mine doesn’t have any of those complaints. I may go too far at times.

We are a blended family with what some call two sets of kids.

I have my older kids – 19, 16, and 15.  My younger kids are 7, 5, and 3. The 3-yr-old is the only girl I carried in my belly and who lives at our home full time. Which probably means she is spoiled rotten. The 7-yr-old is the first child my husband and I had together, the only one I spent months begging God to give me a baby. He can act like the baby of the family or he quickly steps up to play the “oldest” role when his 3 older siblings aren’t around.

The 5-yr-old is a middle child through and through. He is perfectly happy playing by himself and that is where you will find him most of the time. Building something, working out the design all on his own and don’t you dare try to help him build or try to stop him before he’s ready.

He’s the quietest of them all, but when you get him all by himself and there’s no building happening he talks and talks and talks. He will tell you all about the latest Wild Kratt’s episode he watched, or his dream, or tell you a grand story.

One of my favorite times with him was just recently when he was up sick in the middle of the night. He had to tell me all about whales. This was while he was sitting on the bathroom floor feeling sick.

It was 2:30 in the morning. The middle of the night. All I wanted to do was sleep, but he wanted to talk, about whales. Mom did you know…. and he would spout off another fact.

It was tempting to tell him to hush it was time for sleep, especially as we moved to the couch. I thank God I had the patience to listen and just let him talk. It’s when I have that patience to sit and listen that I get a glimpse of who my children really are.

One of my favorite quotes is “Children are not a distraction from the more important work. They are the most important work.” Dr. John Trainer

In Mark 10:14, a much wiser man, Jesus, takes time to spend with the children. He even chastises his disciples for trying to keep them away. Spending time with our children is beneficial to them, but I think sometimes we forget how beneficial it is to us as well. In verse 14 Jesus tells them that we must receive the Kingdom of God like a child. Spending time with our children reminds us just what that means.

How do you make sure you spend one on one time with your child(ren)?