Parents need to stay as much time as they can with their kids. Spending time with kids will strengthen the parent-child bonding. Do not feel guilty that you are not spending as much time with your kids as you desire. Instead, find some hacks to utilize the time that you have with them.
How can parents maximize the evening time every day (except on the weekends) with their kids? Let’s have a look at what parents can do.
For most of the weeknights, working parents are tired. But, irrespective of their tiredness, sitting with kids and talking with them is mandatory. Making quality time with your kids means you are making memories with them every day.
Kids have to sleep early during weeknights; however, before they go to sleep, you should take some time to play with them, talk with them, or perform your daily routine with them.
You will never know what your kids are going through at school unless you talk with them. So, sit with your children every evening and talk about your everyday experiences at your workplace with them. Ask what they did all day at school. How was it with their friends?
If you have small kids, leaving them for the whole day at daycare or with a nanny will make them miss you more. Thus, you should sit down and play with them once you get home from work.
5 Ideas to Spend Quality Time with Children During Weeknights
Here is a list of some splendid ideas to help you make most of the weeknights with your kiddos.
Put down the phone!
Parents are never too away from their work until they put their phones down. They keep receiving emails, messages, and other notices from their workplaces.
So, as soon as you enter your house, get detached from the outer world. The best way to do this is by keeping your mobile phone at a place and not even looking back at it.
Most parents tend to spend most of their time on their phones: on social media, checking for work emails, and exploring amazon to find new things to buy. But, if you want to make your time productive with your family and kids, stop scrolling your phone. Instead, please stand up, put your phone down, hold your kids, tease them, play with them…
By asking you to put your phone down, I don’t mean you cannot use your phone. Instead, take amazing pictures of your kids. Capturing precious moments with your kids is an asset. If you have a tiny baby at home, record them giggling, taking little steps, kissing you, playing with your pets, and everything.
The rule of “Phones Down” applies to both the parents: Dads and Moms. If your kids are in their teens, you should talk with them about physical harassment, bullying, and cybercrime. Talk about your experiences when you were kids. These days, with the increase in mobile phones and electronic devices, many kids are facing these but can not share themselves being the victims with their parents.
So, if you create a better environment for them to speak up, they will tell you. So, be open to your kids, try being their best friends. Also, take notice of whether your kid has changed lately. Look for behavioral changes like tending to stay alone, pale faces, looking stressed, losing interest in their hobbies. These could be signs of anxiety in kids.
So, play with your kids, talk with them, and listen to what they have to say. Playing with them or watching them play is the easiest way to keep up a strong family bond. Also, you can keep your kids away from dreadful things like harassment, anxiety, and others.
Let your kids help cook.
“Let’s break some eggs. We will be making mom’s favorite recipe today. Who’s excited to help?” My kids rush to me as soon as I say this. If you’re looking to spend some fun and creative time with family, ask them to join you in the kitchen.
Some parents like to order dinner from outside. But, cooking together is always a good idea if you want to make most of your evenings with your kids and family. Don’t think, “I’ll do it all by myself” Instead, ask your eldest one to make dough while the youngest makes funny-looking structures out of the dough.
The time that most of the parents spend in the kitchen alone is the time when they can bond with their children. So, grab the advantage of being with them and making dinner together. You can divide the work. Okay, you make the table, I’ll make rice and chicken curry. Hey you, help me cut some veggies for a salad. And you, make some drinks to go with it… and likewise.
As fun as it sounds, it is even more fun doing. Not only will you get some assistance from the family members, but you will also teach your kids to cook food. In addition, you can teach your kids that they should eat healthily. They can also learn about balanced diets and nutrition that they can get from different foods and fruits.
Many kids these days are becoming famous young chefs by cooking and making youtube videos. Likewise, there are many top chefs worldwide who their parents inspire as a child. So, by teaching your children to cook, you might be training and encouraging them to become the best chefs in the future.
Do you love this idea? So what are you going to prepare for the dinner today? Some white sauced pasta with chicken topping, I guess, because that’s my favorite.
Sit on the floor with your kids
Before I saw this helpful hack, I used to sit down on our couch every time. Sitting on the floor in circles and talking with each other, playing, sleeping on each other’s lap is another level of intimacy.
Play fun-filled games and conversation sessions with your kids. You cannot always attend games at school. But, sitting down, you can encourage your kid to talk about the experiences while playing, how the game was, how they played, which team won, and everything. Also, your kid might have made some sketches at school. Ask them to show it to you and praise their work. Talking about their achievements will motivate them to get better.
If you have a 3-year old son at home, you should run after him, play his puzzle and block games, say “Waaaaau!” as they show you what they are learning. Interaction with kids has long proved to be effective in the mental growth of children.
Don’t miss out on spending a fantastic time with your family and kids. Check their homework copies. Help them with their assignments. Ask them if there is anything that you need to know about their friends, teachers, grades, sports, or others. Talk about some important family matters, if any. Finally, plan some family outings for weekends.
Add some extras to your bedtime routine.
“Eat, Brush your teeth, go to your bed.” This loop is a general bedtime routine of all people. But, oh, I am bored with this. Can you add some fun things in between this routine? Could it have any impact on your and your family’s communication and bonding? Could you give it a thought?
A little extra time to maybe, read a storybook to your kids, praying time, a short fun game that involves everyone sitting comfortably and mildly talking with each other will be a treasure if you want to make the weeknights better and fun.
Keep everything aside and enjoy the little things in life. We often hear people saying this. But, for mums and dads who work all day long and cannot spend most of their time with the kids, these small spaces and fun routines in the evening sound wonderful.
Spending quality time with their parents and siblings before bedtime can be a good staple for kids. A short session with the family will help them to have a long good night’s sleep. So, focus on your kids and make time for them every day.
Relax together and make weekend plans
Enjoying leisure time with kids enhances the connection between parents and their children. So, spend time together, at least two to three hours every morning and evening.
After a long day at school and offices, everyone feels a bit tired and lazy. But don’t allow boredom. One can initiate a conversation by saying, “Tell me something funny that happened at school today.” have some sweet conversations with the kids, do all the evening chores together, and sit in the living room cuddling with your kids watching TV.
Especially in the winter, you can light the fire and sit by the fireplace singing songs, telling short stories, until it’s bedtime. Then, relax, do some prayers, listen to soft and soothing music. Watch your kids play, encourage them to be passionate about the things they love.
If tomorrow is a public holiday, download some family movies. Then, watch them together and make the weeknights count.
Final Say,
The most crucial time that parents and kids have together starts as the parents get back home from work until everyone goes to bed. Evening time is a meaningful time to bond and flourish family culture. Thus, parents should find some meaningful ways to make most of the weeknights with their children.
