How To Spend Quality Time With Your Kids

In today’s world, many working moms are fearful of putting their family first at the risk of losing their jobs. On the flip side, she also fears that her kids will grow up and become rebellious. Or worse, resent them for the time they spent focused on work.

That’s what happened to Mary (not her real name).

Mary worked for a Fortune 500 company as a sales manager. She worked long hours – out the door by 6:30 in the morning, home by 11 and on some nights, later than that.

At the time, her oldest daughter was 17 years old. In between the conference calls and laundry, Mary noticed her daughter was changing. She was fighting with her siblings more than usual. Instead, she downplayed it and thought she was being a “typical teenager”.

One day during a conference call, Mary was interrupted by her assistant saying she had a phone call from her daughter’s school. She knew it had to be bad news. Why else would a teacher call during school hours.

Just as she suspected, it was bad news. Her daughter’s grades were slipping and that morning she was caught skipping school with some other kids.

Right away the guilt sunk in. If Mary were home earlier, she would have time to spend with her kids. There wouldn’t be any cutting class or bad grades to deal with.

That was the beginning of the hard time she would have with her daughter. Thankfully, Mary and her daughter managed to overcome the hardships and now have a close mother-daughter relationship. And if you ask Mary if she’d do anything differently, she tell you it would be to spend more quality time with her kids.

How to Spend Quality Time with Your Kids When You’re A Busy Working Mom

While being a mother and a career-oriented woman all at the same time may seem like an impossible task, it’s a task that you can more than perform. They don’t call us Supermom for nothing!

What you need to remember, although difficult as it may be, is that you should be a mom first. However, that doesn’t mean that you should just toss your workload to the side and not care. You have to find a balance between your family and career.

Start by creating a schedule for yourself. This schedule can be used to outline any important events that you and your kids have planned. Although your schedule does not need to be followed right down to the letter, it is important to have one. And you’re more likely to follow through with your plans.

My Personal Favorite Activities To Do With My Kids

There are a number of ways to spend quality time with your children when you’re not working. Of course, it’s important to keep your child’s age in mind. A child who is three years old will prefer different activities than one who is nine or ten years old. But, there are a number of different activities that kids of all ages would enjoy.

Here are some of my personal favorites.

Visit The Zoo

Zoo trips are fun and exciting. There is plenty to see and do to make it an all day event. What’s nice about zoo trips is that they are fun and educational all at the same time. Which means that your quality time can benefit your children in more ways than one.

Go See A Movie

Going to the movies is a nice treat for the family. Whether your child is three years old or fifteen years old, there should be a movie playing that they would all enjoy seeing, like Toy Story 4. For more affordable movie tickets, you may want to think about going to see a movie with your family during the day.

Go To A Sporting Event

Treat the kids to an afternoon baseball game. The hot dogs, popcorn and home runs are sure to create great memories for the whole family!

But if you’re too tired to go out, here are some things you can do at home.

Get some old magazines, scissors, glue and poster boards so you and your children can make a “My Favorite Things” board. Everyone can take turns talking about the board and what they choose.

Create an ice cream bar to make an ice cream sundae with their favorite toppings. Then pop in a movie to enjoy your treat.

You can never go wrong with board games. My kids love playing Uno and Jenga – or anything that will get them screaming with laughter.

Play Dress Up

Another way to spend quality time with you kids is to have a playdate. If you have daughter’s, plan a dress-up day. Do each other’s hair, make-up and a mani/pedi to cap off a night of fun! Even dads can join in on the dress-up fun!

Wrapping It Up

It really doesn’t matter what you do. To your child, they will just appreciate the fact that you took some time away from work to have fun with them, no matter what activity you do.

What are some of the things you do to spend quality time with your children? Share it with us in the comments below!