Jan 18, 2012 by Teryn Ashley
As a stay at home mom I cherish and am thankful for all the time that I get to spend with my two young kids. I have never had to work thanks to my wonderful hard working husband. A couple weeks ago I took on a temporary nanny job for a friend. 8am to 6pm, Monday through Friday. It is a full time job lasting til February. Let me just say that I now have a new appreciation for hard working moms that work full time and do their mommy duties when they get home. It amazes me that a lot of women do this, do it well and don’t go crazy. I truly get a different perspective being on the other side. The working, daily grind, being away from home side. This is something I don’t think I could ever get used to. Being away from the kids and being exhausted is not fun.
Research shows that children that get one on one quality time do better in life. It makes kids happier and healthier knowing that they are loved. They are more confident with themselves and are proud of who they are just because their parents spend time with them. That really makes me think of how much quality time, not quantity time but QUALITY time I spend with my kids. How much time do I spend playing with them, encouraging them, doing art with them, reading to them and making each one of them feel special. As a now temporary working mom, I see how other women can struggle with the fact that they need to do ALL the house duties, cooking, cleaning and laundry on top of all the mommy duties plus running important errands, teacher conference meetings, appointments AND spend one on one time with kids and go out and do fun things with them. Whew, modern day superwomen! That is a whole lot of things that need to get done at the end of the day and weekends. I guess the official working mother’s saying is really so much to do, so little time.
With not getting a lot of time at home, as moms, we need to make all the little things count. Give the kids special time with you after dinner. Talk with them. Ask them how their day was. I think that it is so important to have quality conversations with our children. They will know that they can tell us anything and maybe it can eliminate all these crazy teenagers who won’t open up to their parents. Ok, we can wish upon a star right? I’m definitely not at the teenager stage yet but one day, so no experience and advice here!
Family time does not have to be elaborate or expensive. There are plenty of little things to do and you will be creating long lasting memories. So I encourage all working moms to take a step back and contemplate the actual time you spend with your kids. Remember it’s the little things that count. So, kiss more, talk more and hug more. Make the most of the time you have. You are doing a great job and I can honestly say you deserve some “me” time too!
Here are ideas for busy parents on how to make the most of the time you have.
Play games or dance as you cook, shop, clean, or take care of pets together
Implement healthy every activites…
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- Sing or listen to music together. Make up silly songs with their names in it.
- Exercise together.
- Cuddle together with a good book. Make it a part of your everyday routine, perhaps each night before bed.
- Do arts and crafts together and hang their art on the fridge or wall for them to show off.
- Rent a special kids movie for them and eat snacks and laugh together.
- Let them help you make dinner or bake cookies. They love to stir!
- Sit down next to your child to pay the bills, and go through the mail as they play next to you.
- Limit TV time. Some TV time together might be worthwhile in strengthening families, but there are better ways families could be spending time together.
- Plan to use car travel time as a special “together time.”
- Sing together.
- Talk about your day and ask your child to talk about hers.
- Tell stories about your childhood.
- Have children tell you a story; identify colors, shapes, or objects along the road.
- Plan a special night where the children get to pick an activity of their choice.
- Give your children a responsibility in the grocery store. Ask them to:
- Match the coupons with the labels.
- Point out or find where the items are.
- Play games such as “I see something” and have the children guess what you see.
- Along with a goodnight hug and kiss, tell your child how much you appreciate all the good things he did that day. Be specific
There are so many little things to do together! Don’t feel quilty for the time that you don’t have but make the most of what you do have. Also, if you are a stay at home mom make sure you appreciate how hard your husband works so you are able to have special time with the kids all the time. You are blessed! As, for me I know I do appreciate my husband more after working this temporary job and I can’t wait til my life as a stay at home mommy goes back to normal.
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