When I first started my motherhood journey, it was not exactly the life that I had imagined. I always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but I worked full-time during the first several years of my daughter’s life.
In addition to long hours, I sat in Los Angeles traffic over fifteen hours a week so time with my little girl was limited.
After my son was born, I was blessed to be able to stay at home with the kids. Unfortunately, my life took a drastic turn when my aging parents needed help and I had to balance my time between two diverse family groups.
Precious time with my children gradually decreased as I supported my parents through their individual health concerns. I wanted my kids to know that although I was often sidetracked with outside issues, they were my first priority.
I took a good long look at our schedules and carved out time for on-going “kid-focused” activities such as these:
Girls and Boys Night. After the family dinner on Friday evenings, we did the old “divide and conquer” trick. My daughter and I went into one room and my Hubby and son hung out in another. We watched movies, played games or cards and topped off the evening with a yummy dessert. I knew this tradition was a hit with my daughter when she told me that she wanted to have Friday Girls Night forever, even after she was married!
Movie Night. When I was growing up, Sunday was always a day of relaxation. That special time was almost impossible in our young family due to our busy schedules. I blocked out Sunday evenings so that our family could enjoy a Movie Night. With a tablecloth on the living room floor, we ate dinner picnic-style and watched a family movie. It does not sound like a big deal but since we never ate in that room, the kids were thrilled! We continue this tradition to this day.
Kid Dates. When our schedules allowed, we had special dates with one child at a time. They picked a special restaurant and an activity they enjoyed such as a movie, sports event or shopping.
I know that these ideas were not the perfect solutions to our decreased family time.
Still, I believe that even in small blocks of time, God was guiding us and bonding our family together.
He used the unfortunate circumstances of our lives to create unforgettable, quality times with our kids.
The motherhood journey that I imagined did not exactly come true, but if we did not have such limited time slots to focus on our family, we may have missed these special times.
Are you able to design high-quality family time in small quantity moments?
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28. KJV
Paula White is the author of Simply Sandwich, a blog providing survival skills for women in the Sandwich Generation. With ten years hands-on juggling experience of multi-generations, Paula shares practical ideas, simple solutions and real stories to help fine tune the family balancing act for any busy mom.
These are great tips! We try to make single-parent nights extra special. When Dad is gone to a meeting or whatever, it’s Mom Night. The boys know that means special dinner in front of the tv with games and yummy dessert – even on a school night. When I’m out, they have Man Night. They eat special Man foods, watch Man shows on TV, and wrestle on the bed.
The area we are weakest in is 1 on 1 time. We’re working on ways to fit it in, but it’s hard to find the time!!
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Twitter: happymomsusan
We try to carve out 1:1 time with each of our boys. It’s the hardest thing for us to do, but it’s also the most meaningful.
susan recently posted..Jumpstart your Joy
What great ideas! We use “divide and conquer” a lot around here! Thanks for visiting on my SITS day!
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Thank you for reminding us that it doesn’t take much to impress our kids and make them feel special. A little quality time, mom’s full attention, and dinner in the TV room can do wonders.
Life has been busy lately and I love posts like this because they keep me in check!
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Twitter: simplyasandwich
Thanks Michelle for your kind words. Wishing you a calmer week and some quality family time!
Paula @ Simply Sandwich recently posted..Secrets to Creating Quality Time
Funny, I believe that no matter what your life calling and what season we are in as parents, caregivers, working mothers, etc. it’s always a struggle to carve that much needed family time! I too, do almost all the things you do with our kids!! I especially love the “divide and conquer” thing…we do that all the time with our girl and boy!! Those precious times are so valuable!!! Treasured moments, maybe small in the big picture of things…but each time we make a special appointment with our children, they will remember. They crave it and they need it. Lovely post!!
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Twitter: simplyasandwich
Thank you Chris! You are so right about them craving it. When I first carved out our family time, I was selfishly doing it for me. Now that the kiddos are older, they do tell me how much they appreciated the focused family time.
Paula @ Simply Sandwich recently posted..Secrets to Creating Quality Time
I like the idea of the picnic in the living room! We’re going to try that soon.
Twitter: simplyasandwich
I think that was the best part for the kids! Just being able to watch something while eating rocked their world!
Paula @ Simply Sandwich recently posted..Secrets to Creating Quality Time
[...] in my MOMtor Monday post, I am sharing my recipe for creating “quality” family time when you have very little “quantity” time. Come on over for a visit and tell me how you create [...]