Comments on: Q&A: How Do You Spend Quality Time With Your Kids?

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:01:44 +0000

What a terrible response… Quality time with kids = Quantity??? Are you kidding me!!!! You obviously have no idea what you’re talking about….

By: Bridgitt

Bridgitt — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:04:21 +0000

Thats great davice I think. I have six kids of my on, and it’s very important to interact with your kids as much as you can. My hubby gets out his guitar and we sing and dance around, let the kids help cook also, etc..

But my question is how can you spend equal time with each child?

By: Lucie @ Unconventional Origins

Lucie @ Unconventional Origins — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:04:48 +0000

When I make my class schedule I try to have a midday 1.5 – 2 hour break between classes. Not enough time to do much work, but just enough time to have some quality play time with my almost one year old son. I do not feel guilty during this time about other things I could be doing and try to focus 100% on my son.

Of course, sometimes my problem admittedly is how do I stop playing with my son so much and make more time for my other responsibilities!

Lucie @ Unconventional Origins´s last blog post…And I’m Back! What To Be Looking For In The Coming Days At Unconventional Origins

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:06:02 +0000

I definitely think quality time is a matter of shutting off distractions—TV, loud music, etc. It’s obviously difficult because it requires more focus and energy from the parent. Our son is a senior in high school now, so I can only reflect on the early years. We didn’t have a TV, by choice, until our son was 8 or 9 years old, and then it was just to watch family videos on Friday nights. We’ve never had any video games in our house, either. What to do all those nights? It’s a funny thing, but quality time is catchy. I mean, when you get used to it, when it becomes a habit, a lifestyle—there’s always something to do: reading, coloring, playing cards (lots of cards), floor games, blocks (lots of blocks), puzzles, marbles (…), magnets, paper airplanes, cars, puppets, charades, theater and lots of outdoor play.

The nice part is, the investment in quality play builds a child’s attention span and ability to focus. Our son locked into what he was doing for LONG stretches of time. With nothing interrupting him, the natural course of action was to continue exploring and figuring things out on his own terms. This actually took some of the edge off parent participation—I mean it made it a little easier—because there wasn’t the need to constantly respond to restlessness. So the extra effort in the beginning was well worth it, at home and also academically. But the key is definitely to have a lot of great activities, and of course. . .to minimize distractions.

By: dominique

dominique — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:24:26 +0000

we do a lot of reading before bedtime.

By: Deb

Deb — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:11:52 +0000

I am a stay at home, homeschooling mom to 2 busy teenagers. One is almost 18 the other will be 16 in 5 weeks so to say that our house could use a revolving door would be an understatement!! But quality time with kids this age means being available to talk NO MATTER what time of the day or night. It’s not always so cut and dry now with them finishing school and part time jobs and a very active youth group. I’m blessed to have a very open line of communication with my teens, but I have to be willing to be available whenever they need me. It’s not always easy to be awake and participating in a conversation at 1 in the morning, but the bond with my teens is MORE than worth it!!!

Deb’s last blog post…Give-a-Way Reminder!!

By: dominique

dominique — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:31:37 +0000

We try to have dinner together as a family 4 times a week, on weekend we bring the boys to the park to play, ride their bikes.
I read to them 2-3 times a night..sometimes we just have chill out time watching their favourite DVD together.

By: Mel T

Mel T — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:47:28 +0000

“I don’t think there’s a difference between quality time and quantity time with your children”

I don’t have children (hopefully I can insert ‘yet’ here), but I think this is a good point, Tsh.

I read recently, that Aussie dads spend on average 6 mins with their children from Mon-Fri. I wonder what’s the average time spent watching TV?

Mel T’s last blog post…Warning: 10 Lies You Swallow When You Eat

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:16:58 +0000

Well, if I didn’t learn anything else, I learned that I live under a rock!

Tiffany’s last blog post…Pantry Raid, "After" pictures

By: Rose

Rose — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:27:33 +0000

We have stay-up night, a time when one kid gets to stay up with us and the others head to their rooms for quiet time. Rose's last blog post...Stay-up night