People always say “time is money.” I say “time is love.” As I mentioned on the air today, it’s spending one-on-one time with our children, not money, that demonstrates love. Spend more time with them.
We want to believe the myth that all we need is quality time with our kids. But, our kids need quantity time. Have you ever heard your child say to you, “Mom, Dad, we have played way too much. Why don’t you go back to work and get some things done.” Of course not. They want quantity time.
Now, I want you to remember that your time with your child does not have to be some big, planned, vacation, lengthy event or activity. Just grab what I call, “small pockets of time” with your child.
It helps me to have all of my kids sports and school activities on my calendar, even if I can’t make all of them, so that I can make sure to work as much of it into my day as possible. Right after a business lunch, I dropped by my daughter, Megan’s, school pep rally to watch for just 20 minutes before returning to the office…just a small pocket of time to connect with my daughter.
And, every month, on each of my kids birthday dates, I take them somewhere they want to go. For example, Emily’s birthday is March 10. So on the 10th of each month, it’s her turn. It may be something as simple as going bike riding or getting hot chocolate before school.
Be there and be connected in those small pockets of time.
Mark