Make Time For Your Kids

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When we are caught up with our ever busy schedules, it is easy to overlook on spending quality time with our kids. 

What is  important to remember is that even though our children are growing into adulthood, our involvement with them as parents are still as important.
 
It's a well-known fact that communication breakdown is considered as a major cause of parent/children conflict and the quality time we spend with them is one of the most important thing we can do to minimize or avoid this altogether.
 
Time spent one-on-one with each of your children, regularly and individually in an activity they choose, not only will it create a better bond with your kids, but help them behave better.
 

Make spending time for your children a priority

Prioritizing them so that you have the time to spend together with your kids is the best way to do it. And the way to make it work is by making the relationship with them your top priority.
 
You don't have to spend long hours as small changes in how you use your time with them can have a huge impact on how they perceive you and how they respond to you.
 
According to a study of 3,000 families, [strong families] spend a quantity of time in which there can be quality experiences and mutual satisfaction.
 

Be mentally present with your child

Sometimes we can be physically at home, but mentally, we are miles away, thinking about some problem elsewhere. Children have an uncanny ability to sense whether we are really paying attention or not and it can affect their interest with our presence.
 
Whatever it takes, clear our minds and hearts of our work stresses, before we spend time with our kids. This way, we will find ourselves more patient, more cheerful, more giving and certainly more attentive to our children.
 

Spend time being involved in an educational activity of your child

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Busy parents can and should keep up and monitor their children’s school work, making sure that they are engaged in their studies.
 
Helping with their homework or helping them apply some of the basic skills they have learned in their home life are among the things we can do to encourage and support what they’re learning in school.
 

Do ONE Fun activity with your child each day

Fun and joy must be part of our family lives. They help strengthen emotional connection between you and your children. It is good to just do things are both parents and children can enjoy together. 

A family that plays together stays together.  Ask yourself, what are things both you and your child enjoy doing together?
 

Building a Relationship

We must start building our relationship with our children early and not give up or become impatient when it becomes increasingly difficult. Although they may not show their appreciation, they will certainly remember the emotional connection and times you spent with them.
 
Start anew and make it a simple but regular part of your routine. Go for ten or fifteen minutes, twice a day with each child, making them realize that they have your attention.
 

Some ideas on how you can connect with them

1. Play with them. Sounds obvious but do you really do it? Play games, any game. When's the last time you do something "not so adult" like hide and seek in the house? Or you can get down on the floor and make cardboard buildings, make a spaceman mask, a dress up box, plan a tea party, and follow it wherever it goes.
2. Read to them. Begin with a short chapter and read one chapter a day. You can make this time special by having snacks at the same time, for example.
3. Cook together. Kid loves to help in the kitchen. Get cookbook and apron for them and then let them decide what to prepare. Do this frequently. You will be surprised how much you learn from your child while spending the time together OR play with dough together with them.
4. Encourage their creative expression if they have that tendency. give them the supplies and let them go with the flow -- let them paint, draw, cut, and join in.
5. Kids love picnics, don't they?. The key is making them spontaneous. Fetch them up from school, tell them you want to have a picnic and let them suggest where to go and what snack to buy. Let them pick all the foods.
6. Maybe you can play a clown. You just need to make-up silly. Do "pretend" play. For example you can imagine being a family of penguins or something. Assume roles together and play it out.
7. Have special nights where the meals are themed around a single theme.
8. Teach your kids about the tools you use to do everyday tasks. Let them hold the tools while you explain to them what you're going to do with it and why.
9. Get into your kid's games. Whether it's video, computer or board games, show them that you can get down to their "territory" and see if you can surprise them. If not, then ask them to teach you how to play the game. They'll enjoy it when you try to share something that they thought you wouldn't be interested in the first place.

Give your kids the time

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Don't say, "not now dear". You CAN stop and go play for an hour. That check book balancing CAN wait when you come back an hour later, but years later your child may look back and remember the day you stopped what you were doing and to play with him.

Even if your family is slow to respond, keep at it. When things start going, you’ll be wondering why you never lived without this time together before.
 
And you need to begin right now, to see each second as a gift, as an opportunity to savor where you are now whether you do this by playing, chatting or simply being together with them.
 
It is that bonding that makes spending time together with the kids important. It is a time when you can show them things, do fun activities together, and even teach them values.
 
Quality and quantity of time go hand-in-hand. There has to be a give and take in order to find time to spend together as a family. 

Our children may not show their appreciation now as much as we would like, but the time spent together will remain as part of their fond memories for years to come.


Hopefully with these tips or by creating others of your own, you will begin to build strong relationships that will surely take you well through the years and beyond.