For us life can be hectic, as I’m sure it is in your home as well. It seems like there’s always something to do; whether it be appointments, 50 phone calls, the dishes, the laundry, the kids’ activities. We’ve all been there and to be honest it seems like this is a regular day for us and the To-Do list is never-ending.
Life itself often gets in the way of the life that we WANT and sometimes for the sake of our family (mainly the children) we need to set our To-Do list aside, even if it’s just for a little while. It’s good for our children AND good for us to spend that special quality time with them. Quality time with your children will often give you the opportunity to talk with your children about things you may not always have the time to talk about, or maybe even open up the line of communication with them for later conversations. It’s important for your kids to know that they can come to you, that they’re important to you, and spending quality time with them is your first step.
Here’s a list of 10 of the activities that I often do with my own children to ensure that they get plenty of time with me:
- Rent a family-friendly movie. Make popcorn and snuggle up on the couch together.
- Let the kids help in the kitchen. If you’re baking something let them help. My kids love to help put the ingredients in the bowl and mix everything together.
- Read to your child. Even if it’s just a bed-time story your children will remember those quiet little moments.
- Have a picnic in your house. My kids think this is awesome and it’s a great way to make meal time fun.
- Play a game... or two or three!
- Make a craft together.
- Let your kids help you with the household chores. Oddly enough my youngest LOVES to help with chores around the house. He thinks helping me with laundry is great fun.
- Play with toys together. Whether this means playing with dolls, pretend food, or building with blocks, your kids will be thrilled to have your attention and will love playing with you. Just enjoy your time with them and be a kid again. Just be silly and ditch all logic.
- Go for a walk together.
- “Sleepover!” My daughter and I recently had a “sleepover” with just her and I. We baked cookies, watched a million episodes of a cute television show on Netflix, and made a fun craft. We had so much fun together we stayed up until 1 a.m. This is going to be a monthly tradition in our home now.
You can find Miranda blogging at Keeper of the Cheerios
and as @CheerioKeeper on Twitter.
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I never thought about having a picnic in the house. Great idea! You make for a great guest poster…got any food posts? lol
I love the idea of a mom/daughter sleepover! My 3yo would LOVE that!
We love picnics in the house, it’s a weekly tradition here. We set up the picnic table and blankets on the living room floor and watch a kids movie … normally it ends up with just hubby and I watching the movie because the kids eat and then run ha ha, but it’s still a tradition that we love.
These are such great ideas.
Fabulous ideas. My kids also adore the indoor picnic and we do Mother Daughter sleepovers in her room (with a dvd movie in bed with popcorn before sleeping!) along with sometimes letting her “sleepover” in her sleeping bag in the Master Bedroom which she thinks is also very exciting. Fun post!
Thank you ladies for the awesome compliments. I appreciate it. I love reading about the things you do with your kids too. It’s always fun to find new and creative ways to just relax and enjoy our kids.
Those are some great ideas. I’ll have to try some of them out with my daughter!
My favorite is to have children help in the kitchen. I just had my first child 3 months ago and I can’t wait for him to get old enough to help me cook and for me to teach him how to grill, etc.
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