Guilt.
So many parents feel guilty about having to work because they aren’t present with their children. They feel guilty about wanting to take a break when their kids want some quality time (me included)
What’s the solution? I have a few ideas about how you can fit some quality time into your everyday routines.
Come Up with a Morning/Breakfast Routine
Say a prayer after breakfast. Listen to your favorite song on the way to school. Find a way to foster bonding in the midst of morning routines. The morning sets the tone for the day. Use this time to sow positivity into your child instead of frustration. This may require getting up a few minutes earlier.
Leave a Note in your Child’s Lunchbox
Everyone loves having a visual reminder of how much they’re loved. Don’t you? This is a simple way to communicate with your child while you are apart. I can guarantee it will put a smile on their face.
Eat Dinner Together
This can be tough if one parent works late, or you’re running around to and from athletics practices and after school activities. Make sitting down at the table a priority. As kids get older and begin to share more with their peers and less with their parents, having a time of open conversation becomes absolutely necessary to keep the lines of communication open.
With all of the negative influences that the world has to offer our children at such a young age, we can’t afford to not make time to talk to our kids.
Bath/Bedtime Quality Time
If you have toddlers, make this time of night fun!
I get it, you are ready to whisk them off into bed so that you can unwind yourself. Use tools like bubbles, bath crayons, foam letters & numbers to use the bath as a mini classroom. Teach your little ones colors using colored bath bubbles.
After bath time, use story time as a time to wind your children down and educate them. Want to teach them about telling the truth, getting along, or about an important historical figure? Use a book!
When my daughters were babies, my husband and I used the time after bath to teach them how to count their fingers and toes in Spanish.
We are a musical family, so we also used this time to sing & dance with our children. Quality time can be spent a variety of ways–it just about setting aside time with your children & making them feel important.
Everyone has 24 hours in a day. Some of us work longer hours than others, but it’s important to set aside time for our families. Remember, whether we make our kids a priority or not, we are still educating them.