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Ways to spend more time with the people who matter most!

In a busy family lifestyle it can be easy to forget that families, as a group, need love and attention too! As the kids get older, family lives get busier. Especially when the kids have after school sports activities! I knew one single mother who was dating a man for 2 and 1/2 months, he broke up with her stating “you are a friend to your kids and you are too busy” her response was “My kids are doing activities; I have to drive them and how am I a friend to my kids when all I do is give a loving household (with rules).

My kids are healthy and happy and I do make time for you, you are the coward for breaking up with an awesome single mom!”

Yes, even single parents learn how to balance family and work and house chores.

Spending enough quality time as a family will strengthen your bond with your children, and truly teach them what a family is about. You may pleasantly discover that most squabbles in the home are due to a lack of time spent with each other. The more your children can expect to be with you, the less they’ll have to fight for your attention.

This is where a weekly family night or date really makes great strides toward family unity. In fact, you can go even further and help grow your child’s confidence in the real world by letting them plan the family nights. Give them a budget and time allowance, and let them do the arrangements. For younger children, give them a few places or things they can choose from. Make sure to keep in mind what they want to do.

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Now that you’re ready to tackle the world together, what should you do? Below are a few suggestions for perfect family time activities to get you started!

— Include your children in your hobbies. My husband and I were pleasantly surprised that when we took our daughter to the driving range, she wanted to play as well. Now, our golf time has become a family activity that we all enjoy!

— Make a day or time period JUST for your children. This works best when you do it individually with each child. During your time let them do whatever they want to do. For our daughter, we do this about every other week. We have a room full of games and toys and she just picks whatever she wants to play with, usually games, and we play for up to a few hours together. She absolutely loves the time, and always feels closer with us when our time is up.

— Like I mentioned before, set a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly family date night. Here are few suggestions of places you can go:

amusement park
local carnival or circus
miniature golf
movie theater
out for ice cream or a special dinner
local zoo or marine park
roller or ice skating
day at the park, beach or lake
nature walks
museums, especially ones with children’s exhibits
local landmarks
go sky watching
sporting events

No matter what you decide to do, or how you spend your time together, just make sure you keep family time an important part of your everyday life.