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Spending "Quality Time" with Your Children
"Quality time" is time spent doing an activity that is meaningful
to the parent and child. It is time when family members really get
to know each other. Quality time is spent focusing attention on the
other person and sharing thoughts and feelings.
Children need to be loved unconditionally. That does not
mean that you have to approve of everything the child does. What it
does mean is that even though the child misbehaves, you still love
and accept the child and provide support.
The goal of parenting is to help your child become a responsible
adult. To achieve this goal, parents help children learn about life
and living in today's society. The time a parent spends with a child
is important. The activity does need not be costly, but rather one
that satisfies both the parent and the child.
Talk With Your Child
Spend time talking with your child. Talk about any topic of
interest to both of you. Talk about the day's events and the child's
feelings about them.
Through observation and interaction with parents, children learn
how to communicate. Children learn to express their needs. They
learn to listen. They learn to understand nonverbal clues.
Life's Lessons
Children learn about families from the time they spend in their
own families. They learn about birth and caring for another person
when a new baby comes home from the hospital. They learn about loss
when a family member dies. They learn about marriage and
relationships by watching their mothers and fathers interact. By
living in a family, children learn to share, how to stand up for
their own rights, and how to love another person.
Building Self-Esteem
Parents help children develop positive self-esteem by
communicating the value they feel for the child. Words of
encouragement and love help provide children with the courage to try
new things without worrying excessively about not being able to do
them.
Give Guidance
Parents help children learn to be more responsible when they help
children learn to control their own behavior. A disciplined person
has the ability to decide what appropriate behavior is and to act
accordingly. Parents use discipline to help guide their children as
they become responsible adults.
Activities
Following are suggestions for ways to spend quality time with
your family:
- Bake cookies and share them with a friend. Share the joy of
giving with your child.
- Play a family game. Game nights provide time to enjoy each
other's company.
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