Children spell love… T-I-M-E. Spending quality time with our children is so important but the time seems to elude us. It’s possible to find ways to connect with these tips for spending quality time with your child.
This post was sponsored as part of an Influencer Collaboration with the NBA, Spalding, and Target. All opinions are my own.
Most of us can relate to the fact that – life is busy! Between work and life responsibilities, the day passes us by quickly. Carpools, after school activities, dinner, homework, bathtime, bedtime and all of this on top of the other realities of adulthood. We can agree that it’s important to spend quality time with our children and often times we really want to spend that time but we are stuck wishing for more time.
Spending time with our children is extremely important for development and happiness. The family who our children grow up with has a big impact on how they deal with relationships, situations and learn about living life. Family time fills a need for children, the need for attention. We often think it’s all about the quantity of the time we spend with our kids, whereas it is the quality that we need to give our family. Spending family time together develops a deep, strong, family bond. A child develops a sense of belonging.
So how can you find the time when you feel there is no time left in the day to spend? Hopefully these tips for spending quality time with your child help.
Tips for Spending Quality Time with Children
- Have a time each day to connect with your child, ideally face-to-face. But if that isn’t possible, do it in other ways such as leaving notes in a lunch bag or facetime your kiddos before bed.
- Tell your children you love them every day and tell them how important they are.
- Create a special routine for you and your child that can be done every day. For example, choose and read one book with you before bed. When I’m tucking my boys in, I always ask them to share the HIGH and LOW moments of their day with me which opens the door for communication. And you know what we do, when I’m absolutely too tired for reading to them or playing a game, we all snuggle in my bed and watch a tv show together and it is special! The boys will actually ask if we can go upstairs early to get our showers, and teeth brushed and crawl in my bed because they love that time for connection.
- Establish special traditions and special treats. Hot summer days go perfectly with ice cream dates or popsicles in the driveway. Friday night movie nights are always a treat with popcorn and candy. A chilly afternoon in pjs can always be a little more special with a cup of hot cocoa and board games.
- Get into their world. Some kids may want to show you the latest game they are playing or a funny dance they learned at school. It doesn’t matter if you couldn’t care less about video games or if their music drives you crazy. If they are inviting you into their world, jump on the opportunity. Just stay and try for a few minutes to get into their world quietly and see where it takes you.
- Reinforce positive behavior. If a child is being an extra big helper, reinforce their behavior with words of appreciation. Remind yourself that nothing matters as much as your child feeling loved by you.
- Allow other family members to take part. When grandparents want to spend time with the kids, make it happen. That time they spend with other family members is so important to building relationships and shaping who the child will be. Children will always feel special when given special attention from the most influential adults in their life!
- Integrate together time into your daily schedule – even if it’s during those mandated times during the day, such as bathtime or when you’re washing dishes. Invite your child along to run errands with you when you can spend some time talking in the car. Turn up some music when you’re washing dishes and turn work time into playtime. Every little bit makes a positive impact.
- Let them choose how you spend quality time. While it is primarily our responsibility as the parent to initiate quality time, it feels great when your child plans it out every once in a while.
- Schedule time for doing an activity. Limit distractions and follow through with the commitment.
Chris Paul Spalding Basketball
We make family time and spending quality time a priority. The boys know that their dad works long days and they are in bed before he gets home most nights, so we make family time a priority on his days off. We recently gifted the Limited Edition Chris Paul Spalding basketball to the boys on an afternoon we carved out to spend quality time with them. Their excitement was evident as they unboxed their basketball and we headed straight to the park to shoot some hoops!
We shared the story about how Chris Paul and his son designed this ball to represent their family and they enjoyed watching the All in the Family video. You can find this limited edition basketball exclusively at Target imprinted with Family First. Family Last. Family Always.
Spending time with your children provides them with opportunities to learn and to be heard. Most of all, it provides you and your children with time to connect. It’s these connections that make your children feel loved. You may have to get creative to get quality time in but when you look back, you will be thankful for the memories!
If you find a way to make the most of the moments that you have with your kids, you will show them how important your time with them is!
How do you plan to connect and spend quality time with your family this week?
What a fabulous post. So many great suggestions and ideas to put Family First, Family Last, Family Always!