Five Ways to Spend Time with Your Kids!

Let's admit it. We all lead busy lives. We can often find it hard to spend quality time with family, especially our children. If we allow it, our community responsibilities, careers, and church activities can take away a large amount of our time. I thought it would be great to share some cool ideas to spend quality time with your children while navigating life.

1. Games. Have them available close to your family room or kitchen area to make it quickly accessible. I keep Scrabble, Uno, and Puzzles in the family room because my youngest always wants to play a game right when I'm trying to cook. So that he feels momma's love, I play a quick game with him first and then return to cooking.
2. Park. Being outdoors with your children is exhilarating. It also provides a great opportunity to get in some physical exercise so that you can skip the gym and make memories with your babies.
3. Movies. There's nothing better than a great movie and popcorn. Use the time after the movie to talk about the characters and plot. It's a great way to reinforce the importance of comprehension.
4. Vacation. This is such a great way to create long-lasting memories with your children. They may not remember every gift you give them but they will remember places they've visited over the years.
5. Books. Try to read to your children on a nightly basis. If you have older children, sit down and talk with them about what they are reading in school. Engage them in conversation about books they enjoy and the books they didn't like.

Here are some time wasters.

1. Try and schedule appointments during the week while your children are at school. This will free you up on the weekends and evenings to spend time with them.
2. Complete household chores once they've gone to bed. Trust me, the dishes can wait.
3. Stay off the phone, tablet, or laptop while in the presence of your children unless it's absolutely necessary (I struggle with this "time waster" on most days). Try leaving the phone in the car when picking them up from school. You haven’t seen them all day long the least you can do is greet them without interruption.

I'm not here to say I'm perfect at parenting. I do however, try to engage and spend quality time with my children every chance I get. I turn down most evening engagements so I can cook for them and help them with their homework. My husband and I recognize that our time with them is limited. Before we know it, they will be out of the house and headed to college. I never want to look back and regret that I didn't make the most of every moment with them.

I want to leave you with a powerful scripture that shares the importance of our children in God's kingdom. They are a REWARD!  Make sure you are a good steward of the gift you've been blessed with. (Posted by Renee)

Psalm 127:3-4 (MEV)

³ Look, children are a gift of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is a reward. ⁴ As arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.