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If you're a working parent, it's more than likely that you spend most of your time wracked with guilt. While you're out there earning money to pay the bills, and to keep your mind (and resume) active, you can't help but worry that you're missing out on those moments in your child's development that are never to be repeated.
But there's no point in eating yourself up with guilt. Try shifting your focus from the amount of time you spend with your children, to the QUALITY of the time you share. Try these ways of making sure that your limited spare time is used in a way which will benefit you all.
Everyday routines can equal quality time.
Just because you don't spend all day, everyday, with your children, doesn't mean that you have to be a one-person circus act when you DO get to see them. You can teach them a valuable lesson about the importance of working for what you want from life, when you show them that you're a human being, not Supermom.
It's OK - in fact, it's normal - to be tired when you get home after a hectic day in the workforce. You don't have to then embark on a range of energetic activities to prove to your children that you love them.
It's a good idea to get into a regular routine during the week, where everyone spends some quiet time debriefing after the day's events, and reconnecting as a family. Allocate your children some of the cooking tasks, or get them to set the table or put away that laundry which get folded on the weekend.
While you share in the chores, chat about what happened to you all that day. You'll be united in a sense of a common goal: a pleasant evening meal and a tidy house. This is far preferable to rushing around doing everything yourself and screaming at your children when they inevitably whine for your attention.
Plan a special weekly event.
So that you don't feel that you're all walking on a treadmill of chores, try organizing one weekly treat that you all do together. Bring your kids in on the act, and ask them where they want to go this weekend.
It may be the zoo, it may be a movie or it may just be going shopping to get them new winter underwear. But it's a great idea to go on an outing with them on a regular basis.
If you do find yourself going out to get a fairly mundane shopping task out of the way, stop off for icecream, or to feed the birds in the park on the way home. These little treats will be exciting for your kids and will remind you that it can be fun to be a parent.
Watching your children carefully throw crumbs from stale bread to a clamouring flock of birds can be a surprisingly poignant experience. You will find their innocent excitement contagious and touching – and a great subject for a candid family photo.
As you can see, you don't need to change your life to make sure that the time you spend with your kids is special. It's not so hard to work regular moments of joy into your everyday routine, and to remind your children - and yourself - of how wonderful being a parent can be.
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