Amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life, it can be challenging to fit in quality one-on-one time with your children. But nurturing your relationship with your kids is essential! Spending meaningful time together not only strengthens your bond, but also it builds trust and understanding.
So, how can you carve out those precious moments when life is already busy? Here are some simple, yet effective tips from each member of our team to help you fit in one-on-one time with your children.
Ralphie
When my kiddos were little, we would do an hour of reading time every Saturday. I used that time to sit with each of them for 20 minutes and read together.
Now that they are older, I’ll take one of them with me to go on a walk at night or to run an errand. I’ll make sure to call it a “mommy-daughter date” to make the time together feel special.
Stephanie
The ages of our kids span from 8-25, so one thing we have learned is that one-on-one time will not always look the same. Depending on the stage we are in and what is going on in our lives, we have found creative ways to spend that special time with our kids. But no matter the age, a McDonald’s ice cream cone makes anything feel like a date!
Here are some of our 1:1 time ideas for littles:
- My husband or I will pop in to eat lunch with them at the elementary school.
- Take them to see high school plays, concerts, or games to support a friend.
- Ask them to make dinner with you.
- My husband likes to get donuts on Saturday morning and take someone with him to the park or to play basketball.
- We often buy annual passes to something, such as the aquarium, zoo, waterpark, etc. We like to go as a family, but we also use it as a way to spend time with one child at a time.
Here are some of our 1:1 time ideas for teenagers:
- Get lunch or a snack after picking them up from school, or even check them out for the same reason.
- We try to group 1:1 time with busy evenings so it doesn’t take away from family time. For example, if it is youth activity night, one of our teenagers would get to go early with one of us and grab dinner beforehand.
- Have fun staying up late with them! We stay up way, way too late with our teenagers.
Ashley
My husband has a busy schedule where he is gone several nights of the week. To fit in one-on-one time with our kids and make it more simple and consistent, we came up with a schedule to create this time at home:
- We chose two nights of the week that my husband is home, Sunday and Monday.
- Each of our older kids gets one of those nights, and they get to stay up 20-30 minutes later than the rest of the kids to spend time with mom and dad.
- We do something simple and screen-free like playing a card game.
They have started to really look forward to this time, often reminding me or the other sibling, “Tonight is my night!” This has been fun for them, but also for us as parents to spend time with them on a regular basis.
Brittany
While we love to have spontaneous one-on-one time with our kids running errands, making dinner, or grabbing a Slurpee, we also love to do a more planned event once a month with each of our older kids. If we plan it in advance, it will happen.
We believe there are psychological benefits of having something to look forward to. We love finding sporting or events to go to in our community, asking the kids if they’d be interested, and putting it on their bedroom calendars. They know that their special outing is coming up, and they really get excited about it. And bonus—the other kiddo gets to hang out with the other parent and have a 1:1 date at home! It’s a win-win.
Here are some of the planned-in-advance 1:1 dates we’ve done:
- SO many events at our local library: Narnia tea party, Night at the Museum, reptile shows, holiday concerts, and more!
- The nickel arcade
- Volleyball games or gymnastics meets
- Walk through holiday light displays
- Date to eat ethnic food
Keep Connection Simple
In conclusion, fitting in one-on-one time with your children doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. By prioritizing, planning, and embracing simple activities, you can create meaningful moments that bring you closer together. So, make the effort to carve out those precious moments amidst your busy schedule—because after all, the greatest gift of all is time!
If you would like to learn more about spending quality time with your children and family, check out these posts:
Any tips for single parents of two kids making one on one time work?
Absolutely! Depending on their ages, try to set up a self-directed activity for one child while you have special time with the other. Set a timer or whatever works best for you, and let them know that their turn is coming up next! It can take some practice, but it usually helps with each child being respectful of the other child’s time so you can get them both in. Even 10 minutes per child can do wonders!