Right now we want our kids to feel loved and secure more than ever. Spending quality time with your kiddos is a great way to start on that path.
Spend Quality Time On a Game Date
I borrowed this idea from a dear friend of mine. First she chose a day of the week when she would be home and have some down time. Next she set up a schedule where each child in the family would have a set time on that day to spend with her (once a week, bi weekly, or once a month). At that child’s day and time they would get their mom all to themselves and have a game date. I’ve tried a version of this with my 2 youngest kids. They LOVE playing cards and each Sunday we are sure to get in a few hands of UNO, Cover Your Assets, or Trash. It doesn’t take a lot of my time but we get to laugh, talk, and play together which definitely makes me feel like I am spending some good quality time with my kiddos.
Drive-Thru Date
This idea came about when a neighbor of mine was frustrated with a daughter who ALWAYS wanted to talk. This neighbor has 5 kids and 2 are still in the toddler stage so she didn’t feel like she had a lot of time to sit and listen to her 6th grader’s stories. Of course this daughter needed to be heard in an environment with fewer distractions for mom/dad. Thus the drive-thru. She could have an older sibling watch the toddlers while she took the 6th grader to drive-thru like Swig and grab a drink or cookie (any drive-thru will do). It needn’t take more than 20 min or so and all the time in the car is uninterrupted talking/listening time. Plus, what kid doesn’t want food or a treat!
Learn About Something Together
My 10 year old son and I have recently found a great way to spend time together. We are getting a dog (yikes) and want to know how to train it before it gets here. He’s our early riser and we have found we have 15min. each morning between when the 8th grader leaves for school and the 2nd grader has to get up. We use this time to snuggle in my bed together and watch a puppy training video online. It’s only 15min. and we don’t get to it every day. Yet, it’s something I think we both look forward to and it’s fun to talk about what we learned.
Secret Handshake
Spending quality time with your kiddos can be as simple as a secret handshake. It’s something that bonds you two together and is special because it’s just yours. Even better, a handshake can take seconds to complete and can be done multiple times in a day!
Spending quality time isn’t about keeping track of minutes and hours spent to equal up to a certain amount. It’s about bonding and feeling cared for and that can be done in a 30 min game or a 30 second handshake. So get to it and start spending some quality time with your kiddos today.