by R.L Hanlon

Created on: September 26, 2009

As a busy mother of three who works full time and has many of her own interests, the subject of spending quality time with my children is one that is often raised.

The number of times I've sat back at the end of the week and wondered what quality time I have spent with my children and how much of it we had spent together, are too numerous to count. I always know when I haven't spent enough time with my children as it's obvious in their behaviour and their attitudes.

It was after too many weeks of rushing, working, cleaning and hectic living when I realized that something had to change. In amongst our busy lifestyles we had to begin making adjustments to spend more quality time with our children, singularly and as a family.

Following are some of the measures we as a busy family, as a working family and one that has interests, made some simple changes to spend more quality time together.

~Family meals allow for learning and discussion

Habits can sometimes be real easy to break. One habit we established early was separate meals. It was easy to feed the kids first and then ourselves later, the children ate at their table and we ate wherever we happened to want to sit and eat. There was a perfectly good dining room table that just wasn't being utilized. This habit we soon broke.

Family meals together opened up a new experience for all of us. We got to parent and show our children how to eat and behave at the dinner table properly, but best of all, we all got to sit around and talk. We were able to learn about each other and discuss things we like and dislike.

~Establish specific routines

Mundane routines, for example cooking meals, bath time, reading time and bed time can all be used to spend quality time with our children. Reading can be done together or individually, but keeping your children close to you or on your lap allows them to spend some close quality time with you.

~Nominate a day of games

Every Tuesday, the one day where there is no running around from school to preschool to other activities, my children and I have a games day. This can be difficult due to the ages of my children but I have located some great age appropriate games that can be used by all of them.

In our current games cupboard we have Candyland, Uno cards, Bingo and an Eye Spy game. Sometimes we play hide and seek, whether it be indoor or outdoors. On other days, I may mix things up by creating a craft day where we play Playdoh or painting on this day.

~Remember

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