Key Takeaways
- Prioritize Family Time: Even with a busy schedule, prioritize spending quality time with your child. Recognize its importance in strengthening the parent-child bond.
- Household Chores: Assess your household chore list and determine which tasks can be postponed or done imperfectly in order to free up more family time. Some chores can be tackled after your child has gone to bed.
- Incorporate Quality Time into Routines: Use everyday routines as opportunities for bonding. For example, sing songs during car rides or use the commute to discuss what’s happening in your child’s life.
- Individual Attention: If you have multiple children, make an effort to give each child individual attention. It may require some juggling, but it’s important to show each child they are valued.
- Consistency and Routine: Children thrive on stability and routines. Plan quality time activities that can occur regularly, such as a weekend morning dog walk, a scheduled weekly family dinner, or a trip to the park.
In today’s busy world, work, household chores and social activities all put a strain on your time with your child. But as you well know, it’s imperative that you spend quality time together. It helps strengthen the bond between parent and child, and lets your child know you can be trusted and counted on. Children who spend quality time with their parents often do better in school, and excel in extracurricular activities, hobbies or sports. And though it can be ‘scheduled’ to a degree, it’s something that happens when you least expect it. Therefore it’s important that you do spend as much time as possible with your child in a relaxed atmosphere and do things together that you both enjoy.
But you’re asking yourself, “Where am I going to find the time? My schedule’s crazy enough as it is!” Well, for something as important as your child, you need to start digging around in that crazy schedule and find the time. Prioritizing is the key.
Here’s some helpful suggestions on how to make the most of your time and find quality time where you least expect it.
Look at your household chore list and decide which ones can be left undone or be done imperfectly in order to make more family time. You might also want to consider leaving certain things until after your child has gone to bed to make the most of your time together.
Turn some of your everyday routines together count. Sing some favorite silly songs on the way to daycare, or make that drive to and from school a great opportunity to discuss what’s happening in your child’s life.
If you have more than one child, realize that each of them needs your individual attention. You may really have to juggle things around to make this happen, but try to be flexible and creative when spending time with each of your kids. And no matter what, don’t skip those individual times with each child. By doing so you show them they’re lower down on the priority list than the dry cleaning or the grocery shopping.
Children thrive on stability and routines, so plan your quality times so that they can take place regularly. Maybe you can walk the dog together on weekend morning, take a shopping excursion together, have a scheduled night each week for a sit-down dinner together, or make a trip to the park.
