The other night as I was tucking my daughter in to bed, I realized that this was the first chance I had gotten that day to spend a few minutes with just her - one on one.

The mere thought sent guilt waves through my body, and, in a desperate attempt to make up for that, I read her several extra bedtime stories and hugged her extra tight. As I thought back on our day, I wondered how could I have let this happen? I played back the 147 things I got done that day between school shuttling, playdates, meals, clean ups, toddler tantrums, e-mails, appointments, phone calls and deadlines, and I realized exactly where our one-on-one time got lost: in plain old everyday life.

I’ve always been pretty good at multi-tasking, what mother isn’t? It’s a skill that is unknowingly acquired before you even leave the hospital after birth. Yet that day, I let myself get so busy that I seemed to have lost what is most important, in the juggling of all those much less important things. I started mentally tallying what time I had spent with whom over the last few weeks. Everyday I try to give both of my daughters alone time, mommy time, sister time, daddy time…but let’s face it, this can be tough to do.

Luckily, it was one of those rare non-emotional days in the life of a 6-year-old girl. Emma didn’t mention what a louse of a mom I was that day, nor did she seem to notice my guilt-laden bedtime story marathon, so I chalked it up a “wake up” call. I vowed to myself (and to my children) that night, to be more mindful of what is most important in my life: my family. Even on those crazy busy days, there is always an opportunity to stop and really connect with your child, and in my case there are usually quite a few.

How do you manage to stay connected with each of your children when life gets busy? Share your story with me at searsen@live.com

Sara Arsenault is a full time stay at home mother of two, a community volunteer and a contributor to the Parenting section of AnnArbor.com . She welcomes your comments at searsen@live.com