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Making the Most of Quality Time
Spending quality time with your children is a priority for any mom - be it stay-at-home mom
or career mom. Especially if you work outside the home, you might find it difficult, even
sometimes impossible, to put in the amount of time with your family as you would like.
Work, household chores, social activities, and of course, rest, all play their role in reducing
the number of hours that are left at the end of the day to do anything valuable.
A few easy-to-follow guidelines will help you maximize the opportunities you DO have to
turn everyday occurrences with your children into magical, quality-time moments.
Turn some routines, such as driving to the day care or doing the dishes, into quality time by
singing together or talking seriously about any issues going on in your lives. For older
children, a good way to approach this is to ask your child each day what was the "high"
(best thing) about his day and the "low" (most disappointing thing) about his day, and
sharing with him the same about your day. It will give you a chance to at least cover the
most meaningful parts of your days with each other. For moms of younger children,
reciting the ABC's or dancing with your child while you sweep the kitchen floor can go a
long way.
Leave certain things, such as showering and ironing, until after your child has gone to bed
to make the most of your time together. Decide which household chores can be left undone
or be done imperfectly in order to make more family time.
Know your children individually by spending quality time alone with each of them. Even if
they're close in age and enjoy the same activities, each child has a different personality
and, more importantly, needs specific individual attention from you at times. So make a
point to plan a weekly or monthly individual "date" with each of your children.
Plan quality times so they can take place regularly. It will allow you to keep this time set
aside on your calendar, and your children will appreciate the predictability. A few
suggestions are to eat dinner together each evening or go to the park first thing every
Saturday morning.
Spending quality time with your children is a priority for any mom - be it stay-at-home mom
or career mom. Especially if you work outside the home, you might find it difficult, even
sometimes impossible, to put in the amount of time with your family as you would like.
Work, household chores, social activities, and of course, rest, all play their role in reducing
the number of hours that are left at the end of the day to do anything valuable.
A few easy-to-follow guidelines will help you maximize the opportunities you DO have to
turn everyday occurrences with your children into magical, quality-time moments.
Turn some routines, such as driving to the day care or doing the dishes, into quality time by
singing together or talking seriously about any issues going on in your lives. For older
children, a good way to approach this is to ask your child each day what was the "high"
(best thing) about his day and the "low" (most disappointing thing) about his day, and
sharing with him the same about your day. It will give you a chance to at least cover the
most meaningful parts of your days with each other. For moms of younger children,
reciting the ABC's or dancing with your child while you sweep the kitchen floor can go a
long way.
Leave certain things, such as showering and ironing, until after your child has gone to bed
to make the most of your time together. Decide which household chores can be left undone
or be done imperfectly in order to make more family time.
Know your children individually by spending quality time alone with each of them. Even if
they're close in age and enjoy the same activities, each child has a different personality
and, more importantly, needs specific individual attention from you at times. So make a
point to plan a weekly or monthly individual "date" with each of your children.
Plan quality times so they can take place regularly. It will allow you to keep this time set
aside on your calendar, and your children will appreciate the predictability. A few
suggestions are to eat dinner together each evening or go to the park first thing every
Saturday morning.