Nix, I thought you wrote your "finale"! LOL Glad you didn't, but you better watch out, someone might be counting your posts!
I have 5 kids. The oldest is 25, the youngest is 11. We have always been an active family. My kids have been involved in just about every sport there is (if any DARES tell my son the hockey exists...) Everyone got dragged to everyone elses activity. My poor son has probably attended more dance and gymnastics performances than anyone in this state! And his sisters have been to more wrestling tournaments than they want to be at, but they go! I always tried to have a "date" night with each child a few times during the year. We would go to dinner then a movie. It gives you the alone time to talk and it is something they never forget. I still do this with all my kids, even though 3 of them don't live at home anymore. Friday, I am going to dinner and a movie with one of my daughters to celebrate her 21st birthday. Tonight, I babysat my grandson while my oldest took her daughter to dinner, then to see "Horton Hears a Who".
Their father could never be bothered attending anything they did. He really didn't get to know his own children very well. So now that he's gone, he can't understand why they don't answer their cells when he calls, or why they don't call him. Don't let that happen to you. Spend the time with them when they are little, when they are older they will remember.