As a work at home mom, I used to find it difficult to find enough hours in the day to look
after the kids and the home as well as to find time to get any work done. This meant no time left to actually sit and play with my kids.
I thought only moms who were just “moms” as opposed to WAHM could do that.
There was no time left in my day to sit in one place and give my children one to one time.
Now I realize the importance of being able to be “just mom”.
Kids see you rushing around here, there and everywhere. They see you on auto-pilot, preparing dinner, helping them with homework, helping with bath time, always helping “with something”.
Sometimes its nice just to stand and stare.
To be a part of their life.
To make that puzzle with them. To help them sing and go choo choo.
Making Time to Play With Your Kids
Now, when my kids are sitting at their Melissa & Doug activity table doing their painting or drawing, I too can join in.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t pluck time out of thin air.
There was no time in the day to pluck out.
I justre-arrangedit.
Making the dinner could wait another half an hour.
I didn’t need to re-tweak that work report.
I didn’t need to sort out the washing just yet.
I could take out some time to spend on each of my kids.
Heck, we could get really ambitious and all work together on the shuttle adventure Lego set as long as I kept a firm watch on the youngest who loved nothing better than demolishing objects once they had been built!
How To Claim Back Time
Set your alarm fifteen minutes earlier and sort out your washing or work on your report. Fifteen minutes in the morning will be like having thirty to forty minutes later on in the day.
Get your children involved in household duties
If you don’t already, get them involved in taking out washing, sorting through it, folding clothes and putting them into their own wardrobes.
Get them to help with laying the table
Get them to bring you required ingredients out of the pantry or fridge
Get them to help you when you go out grocery shopping
Get them to help you clear up the leaves in your backyard
Give them a rota for getting get school shoes, coats, bags ready and prepared by the door for when you leave for school the next morning
You will be amazed how much time you claim back.
Not only that but you’ll find your children will relish the extra responsibility and this is all easy enough to do if you have a reward chart system in place.
I’m not saying its going to be easy to do, to make that shift away from doing all these tasks yourself, because it won’t be.
Us moms are just built that way. We think we can do everything and often don’t give others the chance to help us.
But think of the rewards in getting your children to help you with some of these tasks. The rewards for them and for you will be that you will have more time to sit with them and just play.
BIO
Shelley Kim is the mother of three beautiful children and the founder of 1stToysOnline.com.
