Spending Quality Time with Your Children for the Good Life

When you have kids, it is the best thing in the world! It is a time of family and thinking about the future and teaching them all that is right to survive in this crazy world. But little do we know, we tend to spend less and less time with our children the more we try to work hard to earn more for a better future for them. Although every parent is different, the general trend is that most parents nowadays are working hard for a living. Gone are the days when women were left at home to raise the children and tend to the house. Children today, like children before, still need the same parenting for them to grow up into caring, responsible, and independent adults. So, as a working parent, how do I spend quality time with my children to enhance the good life?

No matter what the family circumstance is, it is important that we maintain a connection with our kids, no matter what ages they may be. One great way to spend quality time with your children is to consistently have one meal with them every day. A friend of mine made it a family rule that every member of his family of five kids always show up for dinner. Dinner is the daily event where they say a prayer before eating, talk about what happened at school and work, and have a nice dessert and hot chocolate together after while sitting around the living room until it is time for the children to do their homework. By maintaining this schedule, the kids and parents are home on time, they spend a meal with quality time together, and all the kids in the house are there by the time homework time comes up when parents can now monitor them and kiss them goodnight.

Another great way to spend quality time with children is to allocate one day on the weekend as family day and have the children choose what they want to do with the family for the day. They may choose to go to the beach, take a hike in a forest, or even just spend the day in the house on a home project that everyone can work on. As long as that day is strictly enforced and you allow the kids the freedom to choose the family activity, you can never go wrong on spending the time that you need with them to educate them and help in their development.

With the technology that surrounds us today, kids are enthralled with ever electronic gadget lying around. Limit Gameboy and PSP time to half an hour a day. Also limit TV time to the weekends only. Allow internet time only to those who have to do assignments that require them to go online. Outside this, it is best for your kids to learn how to be creative instead of burying their noses into game consoles and TV. Make them read a book instead and have them discuss a book whenever they finish one.

The time that we have with our kids is so limited, and they will be leaving for college before you even know it. So take time to be interested in what they do and show them what you are interested in too. Being open and exposing them to an activity-filled learning environment can be your way to spending more precious time with your children.