Guest post from Sarah Robinson
When 8 family members live together inside a home, it can get messy extremely fast! Our household is particularly susceptible to this over the weekend. It might be due to the fact that we are busier and out of our routine. Or, it could possibly be because we are too busy playing, doing what we want to do, and we decide that that we don’t desire to spend the time cleaning up after ourselves. Regardless of why, we sometimes have to have a “Reclaim the House” session, in which we all spend some time working together as speedily as we can, in order to get our home back under control.
Recently in one of our “reclaiming” sessions, I was hand washing all of the dishes that wouldn’t fit inside of the dishwasher. My 6 year old daughter was drying them. She is typically my slow worker, the child who HATES the things that even resemble chores. She often finds a reason to delay working by saying she’s hungry or that she has to use the bathroom, right about the time that I announce we must get busy. This time was different though. This time, she was excited, simply because she was about to to spend her time working, right beside her mom. I was excited, too. I would now have the privilege of encouraging her in becoming a more diligent worker by praising her work. She completely ate it up! It was a way that I could fill up her love tank and encourage her to appreciate being a diligent worker all while drawing us closer.
That had me remembering a recent quote that I read. I wish I could recall where I saw it, but it was similar to this:
“The more quality time you spend with your kids while they are young, the more they would like to be around you after they’ve grown up”.
It is all about spending that good quality time.
Do you spend quality time with your kids? I know I’m guilty of spending a little too much time with my head buried in the computer while they’re off by themselves, doing something else. I’m also guilty of sending them away to do a chore, while I’m off doing a completely different chore. That time would be much more valuable if it was spent working together. We could talk about anything significant to them, have a good laugh and make it into a fun game. They will remember their mother as somebody who they like to be around and spend their time with someone who makes them believe that they are special, unique, and loved. They will grow up wanting spend more time with you! I realize that it is not often feasible to be right beside your kids any time you have delegated them a job, but I do believe that we can make a for more conscious effort to try and do so.
Other Examples of Quality Time with our children:
- Play a board game
- Read a book aloud to them
- Do a puzzle together
- Take them out to eat for a meal without any other siblings
- Go out for ice cream or pie
- Spend some time each day, just talking (especially with older children)
- Do a paper craft (lots of great ideas on Pinterest!)
- Make dinner together (different child each day)
- Become a volunteer together outside of your home
- Select one child at a time to accompany you to the store
What are some of the things you do in order to spend quality time with them?
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Thanks for this great article! I’ve noticed that my kids are much more willing to work if I’m working beside them too.
I like that idea! I do that a lot with my toddler but am going to try it with my ten year old sometimes too!
Thanks for this reminder Sarah! My 3 kids LOVE to ‘help’ me in the kitchen and it always fun for them (but a little stressful for me…)! I needed this reminder to let them ‘help’ me and spend that quality time with them, even if it takes a little longer and is a little messier to make those pancakes! Thanks!