7 Ways to Spend Time with Your Kids When You Have No Time

I am busy; but I won’t be surprised if you say you are busier! Yes, we all are busy, not in our own world, but in the race to build a better world around us that keeps our kids safe forever. Probably, we all have a plan to make our family life easier and happier by compromising on the present. Working a few hours extra, we believe, will turn our tables and life will be eventually beautiful like a fairy tale! But do we ever sit back and wonder, whether in these hassled years of money-making, our kids will grow up and they might not fancy a fairy tale as much as they do now?  

I suggest it is important to spend time with your kids, no matter how busy you may be. Not just because your kids are developing an understanding towards family and relationships, but also because they miss you when they want to switch the TV channel or when they are not able to reach out to the kitchen shelf.  Spending time with them and letting them know how much you care is as important as spending sleepless nights to complete your project.

I suggest some easy ways to be able to spend time with your kids when you don’t have time.

1.   Cook Double, Save Time And Trouble

For working moms, it is important to save as much time as they can. Cooking double meal and freezing the half might ease one of your busier days. Usually, kids start understanding with age, that mom has a certain kitchen time, but when you surprise them one day by not cooking but spending quality time with them can be a real feast!

2.   Kill the TV

You may not realize this one, but when you reach home, tired from work, TV seems to be the most soothing thing around. You might even tell your kids to stay quiet for some time and let you listen to the Talk Show. Well, try it the other way round- tell the TV to stay quiet and ask your kids to tell you what happened at school! You‘ll be surprised, but nothing’s more soothing than the tales the kids bring home from school. Your kids will be happier than ever!

3.   Draw a limit line

You are busy, and so are your kids! So why not cut down the number of activities you and your kids perform separately, for instance, you can drop your evening yoga class, and ask your kids to choose between sports and music. Apparently, they can switch back after sometime, but insist they don’t spend more than a couple of hours out after school. This will give you all more home time. More talk time. More fun time.

4.   Choose what you talk

You know you don’t have long hours to sit and jab with the kids. Why not limit your questions round and talk smart? Many parents have a set of questions they ask their kids every day. They are doing well in school, and even if they’re not, admit it, they won’t tell you on your routine questioning. Talk to them to discuss and to share.

5.   Engage the kids

When my daughter asks for my time, and I know I cannot move away from my work table at all, I try to engage her. I tell her to put all her toys back, into the toy drum and neatly place all the books back on the shelf. This way, I get those extra 20 minutes to wrap up my work, plus, I get all the clean-up already done! The kids usually feel glad that they’ve earned back some time from mom.

6.   Take a break

You have a long list of tasks to be accomplished before cooking the meal. The kids are home today and they don’t understand this. So what do you do? Tell them to watch TV, or send them to the neighbor? I suggest you keep talking to them in between. Give them a snack and sneak out to finish your work. Come back in 10 minutes to ask if they need more. They’ll most likely say ‘no’, but your 1 minutes break will assure them you’re around!

7.   Surprise slips and notes

When you‘re too busy to show your face to the kid, you can at least sketch a sweet little smiley and stick it on the fridge door, kid’s wardrobe, or any surprising place you can think of. This will leave your kids happy and pleased for at least an hour. After an hour, follow Tip No. 6 above!

Spending time with your kids when you don’t have time sounds impossible, but following these 7 easy ways, you’ll surely be able to connect with your kids in a better way and they will also cherish every single moment spent with you. Nothing in the world means more than parents for kids; and nothing of course is more precious than kids for all parents.

Happy Parenting!!