10 Ways To Make Time For Your Children

The other day I was reading through some of the information at All Pro Dad and came across this outstanding article on 10 ways to make time for your children.

Spending quality time with your children is essential to not only your child’s health and well-being, but also your own. Many men feel that their responsibility is to work hard and provide a decent living for their family. While there is no question that that is important, we also need to pay attention to the relationship with our children.

Here are the 10 ways to make time for your children, along with my comments on each.

1. Commit to a family mealtime each day.

Setting aside time to sit down as a family and share a meal is very important. Eliminate any distractions, such as the television or the newspaper, so you can focus on having some quality conversation.

It may be difficult to always be home in time for dinner but don’t let that stop you. Maybe you can share breakfast on some days before you head to work and the kids leave for school. Or maybe it can be something as simple as a special dessert time after dinner if you cannot get home in time for dinner. Be creative.

2. Write your children’s activities into your schedule book - in ink!

You might not feel like the occasional baseball game or dance competition is that big of a deal, but this is something that is important to your child and your presence demonstrates that they are important to you as well.

Is that late work meeting really more important than the excitement your child feels when they see you in the crowd? Book their events on your calendar and treat their “meeting” just as you would if you were meeting with your boss.

3. Identify one thing on your weekly schedule you can do without and replace it with kid time.

Do you really need to see the new episode of Lost? Look at the variety of ways that you spend your time right now and find something that can take a backseat to spending time with your child.

Honestly evaluate how important each activity is during the week and ask yourself if your time would be better spent building a stronger relationship with your son or daughter.

4. Take one of your children along when you run errands.

While your kids might not always want to run errands, you can spend some great time together running around town. The time in the car offers a great chance to talk about things such as school or whatever is on their mind.

Face-to-face conversation can sometimes be too intimate for your children to feel comfortable sharing all of their thoughts. When you are focused on driving, you may find that your kids will never stop talking - as I know my kids talk a mile a minute whenever we are in the car.

5. Volunteer to participate in a regularly scheduled child activity, such as coaching a softball team or helping with a school activity.

As I mentioned earlier about how much your kids will enjoy your mere presence at their activities, they will really enjoy the time you can spend with them as a coach or participant.

While I haven’t been able to devote the time to coaching one of my kid’s activities, I have had the chance to participate at their school and the smile on their face when I walk in their classroom is priceless.

6. Identify one children’s show on TV that you secretly like to watch and make a point of watching it with your child.

Just one? Seriously, there are quite a few children shows that both my kids and I really enjoy. One show that we all enjoy watching is Drake and Josh on Nickelodeon.

My wife and I have actually watched a few of these shows even when the kids are not around. The family shows tend to have quality family lessons and can provide quite a few topics to discuss with your children.

7. Develop an interest in a hobby you and your child can enjoy together.

There is nothing better than spending time with your child doing something that you both love. There are endless opportunities as to what you can do together - fishing, biking, basketball, etc.

It really doesn’t matter which hobby you share, as the real goal is to just have time to bond together.

8. If your work requires that you travel, take one of your children along with you when your business trip can be extended into a long weekend.

Depending on the age of your child, this may be rather difficult but not out of the question. The largest obstacle would be to find someone that can watch your child while you are occupied with work.

If you’re visiting another office from your company, maybe they have an on-site daycare. You may also be able to talk to who you are visiting and request that your child be permitted to accompany you as long as they behave professionally.

9. If your work schedule is flexible, start your work day earlier so you can get home earlier in the afternoon to be with your family.

Flexible schedules are a great way to make additional time to be with your kids. You can start the day earlier to be home earlier, or maybe spend the morning with your kids and work a little later.

In the summer, I like to get into the office by 6:00am and leave by 2:00pm on Monday and Friday. In addition, I take Wednesday off all year and that provides quite a few opportunities to spend time with my kids.

10. Leave your work, cellular phones and pagers at home when you go on family vacations and outings.

Technology can be a life saver - but it can also hamper your relationships. As I wrote about 5 technologies that hurt your work-life balance, you need to be conscious of not allowing technology to rule your life.

Get Involved With Your Children

There are many ways to get involved with your children. Whether it be one of these ten suggestions or something else that you have discovered, get out there and be an active part of your child’s life.

As a matter of fact, I had to take a break while writing this post to have a “national fighting” match with my budding boxing champion and now it is time to unplug and enjoy a pizza and movie night with the family.