It’s quite easy to lose quality family time when you’re busy with work or drop-offs at school, practices, after school activities, and sports. Here’s how to get more quality time with your family.
by Troop Atomic Mommy
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Parents often feel like they are always on the go in the world we live in today. They are working and taking care of their families in a way that isn’t always satisfying. Many people feel like they miss out on important moments with the people who matter most to them.
As parents, the best way to give ourselves more quality time with our families is to make clear lines between work, school, sports, etc., and family life. Let’s look at how you can do this with a few easy guidelines.
Create A Fitting Routine
Spending quality time with family is important. But finding the time isn’t always easy. So it’s more a matter of being proactive and making the time. This can be done by building a more fitting routine, one where it incorporates family time in the schedule.
One way to do this is by time-blocking your days. Create a schedule for each day that fits your job, the kids’ school and activities, and family time. When you do this, you open up your family’s time. Eventually, you’ll begin to feel as if there are a lot of things you can do with your family without sacrificing anything.
For example, you might schedule your Mondays to look something like this: 6am wake up, 6:30am gym, 7:15am shower, 7:30am get ready for work and wake up kids, 8:30am at school drop-off, 9am to 5pm at work, 5:30pm make dinner, 6:30pm eat as a family, 7pm play a family game, 8pm bath time for kids, 8:30pm bed time for kids, 9pm time for yourself or as a couple. 10pm bedtime for parents.
You see, when you schedule in everything that needs to fit into a day, it can actually work and be beneficial to all involved. No one will end their day feeling like it wasn’t a success as family. Keep in mind, that on days where the kids have after school activities or sports, that you’ll need to adjust your schedule and possibly remove some items that were listed above.
Advice for Families Who Have Busy Lives
There are some things families with busy lives can do to make the most of the time they spend together.
- Set a regular time for dinner with the family.
- Each night, take turns cooking dinner.
- Set aside one day a week for your family to do something together, like go to the movies or take a walk in the park.
- Go to your Your Favourite Steakhouse once a month
- Setup carpool days with different parents so you don’t have to always run around
- Plan ahead for holidays and special occasions, and take turns having people over to your house.
Benefits of Quality Time Together
For a child to grow up to be a healthy person, they need to feel included and happy in their family. They need to spend time with their parents, grandparents, and siblings. And on other days, they also need to see their friends and attend sports or clubs. The more kids learn the value of family-time and how easily it can be to ensure family time is never forgotten about, the more likely they are to implement these skills in their future lives. Thus providing a long line of happy family members.
The Takeaway
More quality time with your family helps grow happy and healthy people. It allows everyone in the family to feel loved, important, and vital. It teaches important values and principles, ones that can be passed on from generation to generation. So before you give up entirely on spending quality time together, try a few of the tips above to get the quality time you and your family need.
