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Finding a Common Interest

© April Lee Schmidt

Whether you are looking for a way to spend quality time with your daughter or with your mother you have plenty of options. Finding a shared interest/hobby can be difficult but it's not impossible. If you find yourself looking at your daughter or at your mother and thinking we have nothing in common. How can I spend five minutes with her? Think back to your daughter's early childhood or yours.

I have fond memories of my Grandmother and Mother spending time together. My Grandmother was an avid fan of jig saw puzzles. She always had one in progress. Many nights I would find them pouring over a puzzle while they chatted and sipped tea. Being a young girl at the time, I thought it was a very boring way to spend an evening. However, on occasion I would join in. I learned a great deal about these women as people, not just parental influences.

To spend quality time with me during my difficult teen years my mother combined my early fascination with words and her interest in puzzles. She often challenged me to crossword puzzles or word games. Even now, at family gatherings we are sure to get into a rousing game of scrabble.

Before my now 12 year old daughter could read she and I enjoyed making up stories and rhymes. Now we spend hours writing stories and poetry and then sharing what we have written. I ignore her grammar and punctuation mistakes and focus more on what she is saying.This gives me the opportunity to nurture her creativity. I hope that she cherishes the memories we are making as much as I cherish the memories I have of time spent with my Grandmother and mother.

I know the day is coming when I will be the last person my daughter will likely choose to spend time with. I can fully understand the anguish my mother must have had when I was my daughter's age. When my daughter reaches her trying teen years, she may no longer be interested in sharing her writing with me. I hope that we will be able to find another common interest or hobby to continue the bond that we share now.

She has always enjoyed going to the library and she loves babies and toddlers. Maybe we could volunteer to host a story time. We both like to shop, maybe we could shop for house bound seniors or maybe we could start a personal shopping business.

The copyright of the article Finding a Common Interest in Mothers & Daughters is owned by April Lee Schmidt. Permission to republish Finding a Common Interest in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.