As I am on this journey to discovering who I am, I'm learning to enjoy and appreciate the things and people around me! It's not like I didn't appreciate and love the things and people around me before... But I always had my phone in my hand or near by or my computer on my lap while I was "spending time or doing things".

So for the past 2 weeks, I've made it a point to give Sammy her own special time with me! I am giving her 30-60 minutes of my time uninterrupted! I put my computer and phone on the bed and Sammy and I partake in her chosen activity for the day.

It's so hard and something I am still working on, not to respond to my phone when it enthusiastically lets me know that someone else wants my time. I know I could easily turn it off, but is it really a bad thing to train myself not to respond when it's trying to distract me? I want to train myself to be present, in the moment despite the outside world banging to get it!

Something you should know about Sammy is that she has my creative passion, and she's been watching a lot of customizing YouTube shows. When asked if we could start to customize her toys. I was hesitant at first, then realizing how much she loved it and how it centered and focused it got her I was all in it. So that's become what she normally wants to do! We are using sharpies at the moment to "paint" her toys. We have made Mangle and Foxy from Five Night's at Freddy's. But right now she's really into the Teen Titans and we've done Cyborg, I'm working on Starfire and Sammy is just finishing up Raven!

It's amazing the difference I am noticing in her now that she is getting her own special time. She knows that she is special and even if it's a sort Sammy time that day, the fact that we are focusing on each other brings her so much joy and lets her know how important she is to me!

There is also a difference in myself as I am learning to be present in the moment (and yes it does take some practice) and enjoy all that goes on when I don't have a screen in my face.