Adventures in Parenting

Are you like me who just doesn’t seem to have enough time for everything?

With the busy, busy, busy  lifestyle of most families today, are you feeling pressured to be productive? I always feel that I should be getting things done, check an item off the list.

But do you consider spending time playing with your kids to be “productive”?

Do you feel guilty playing at the park with your children and think you should be doing something else more “productive” instead? I am here today to give you permission to have fun with your kids!

Spending time together is the building block of every relationship. If we want to have good relationships with our children as they grow up, playing with them and spending time together is an investment into that relationship.

Here are some of the biggest “waste of time” activities that I consider to be time well-spent with my children:

1. Watch YouTube together. You might think YouTube is a “waste of time”, but I’ve found that watching YouTube with your children is a great way to be connected with your children. Not only are [some] of the videos pretty entertaining, watching together gives you an understanding of the culture that your kids are growing up in.

2. Watch your children at practices. I spent many hours watching my daughter during her  1 1/2 hours of gymnastics lessons. Whether it’s soccer, Tae Kwon Do, basketball, or piano lessons, don’t just drop your child off for their extra curricular activities.  Many parents would use that time to get their shopping done, but they miss out on seeing their children’s unique personality come out during those times. To get dual benefit here, you can listen to some useful podcasts while you’ sit and watch.

3.  Read together. Set aside a family reading time, have plenty of books from the library available (free!) and everyone, including the parents, can get into their favorite positions in the living room to read. You get triple benefit here – family togetherness, encourage your kids to read for pleasure, and enjoy some popular books or old classics for yourself.  (The Three Musketeers, books by Jane Austen, the Anne of Avonlea series are some of my favorites, what about you?)

4. Play video/computer games together. If your children play video/computer games, then why can’t parents play too? It’s a way for us to connect with our children on their tuft.

5. Build Legos. We have a big box of Lego pieces we take out and make stuff. Unlike board games, you don’t have to be on the same level of expertise to have fun together with Legos. Both boys and girls, adults and kids of any age love to build with Legos.

What other ways do you “waste time” with your children?