5 Strategies to Make the Most of Your Time With Your Kids

When we are in the thick of motherhood, we often find ourselves counting down the hours until bedtime. Motherhood is just as equally rewarding as it is exhausting. As a mom to four children ages 5 to 12, I can totally relate. As we have entered this new season of parenting older kids instead of babies and toddlers, I can see just how fast time passes by. I no longer have little ones to rock to sleep at night. Nightly bath time routines have changed to kids taking showers with no help needed.

This new stage of parenting has been fun and rewarding in different ways. It has shown me just how important it is to soak in every moment we have with our kids. To be intentional in our time, we have discovered we need to focus on making good memories in all we do. Here are 5 strategies to make the most of your time together.

• 1. Keep time in perspective.

It is so easy to be caught up in feeling like the days are so incredibly long. But when we look back, we can see just how fast the years slip by. To keep time in perspective, create a legacy jar. We only have 936 weeks with our children from birth to 18 years old. From the birth of your child, fill a jar with 936 marbles and each week you remove a marble. As each week passes and the marbles diminish, you will see just how quickly time is passing by. When we have a visual representation of time, we can see just how little we have.

• 2. Pick a lane.

Where are you going to focus your time as a family? You could choose to focus on school, sports, church, friends, extended family, nuclear family, or any combination of those things. We chose to focus on the six of us in our home and church. That means if we haven’t spent quality time as family during the week due to work or other obligations, we will spend the weekend with just the six of us. This means saying no to attending other events such as birthday parties or getting together with friends. 

• 3. Set up a date night with each child.

Make sure mom and dad are individually taking each kid on a special date night or even to just run errands together. A mom and son trip to get ice cream, just the two of you. Dad and daughter run to the grocery together but stop for a special treat from the candy store on their own.

• 4. Family fun night.

One night a week, maybe Friday, create a family fun night. Let the kids submit ideas of what that looks like for your family. Put it on the calendar and stay consistent. Play board games, watch a movie, have a s’mores night around the fire, have a dance party, anything that will engage the whole family. Put the phones away and focus on each other.

• 5. Say no, less.

As a control-freak myself, I often find myself saying no to my kids’ request just because it was not part of my plan. I have to make an effort to say no, less. If the kids ask for a fun snack instead of grabbing something quick say yes. If the kids want to have extra play time, say yes and join them. Then watch their faces light up!

What strategies has your family implemented to make the most of your time together?