Not too long ago I made a video about how to have a spiritually FIT family. One of the steps to being FIT as a family is to spend intentional time together.
I realize that life is busy and it is often difficult to spend intentional time with your kids, but it is of utmost importance. I read somewhere once that the average kid spends less than 5 minutes a day in meaningful conversation with his parents. We have to do better than that.
In this article I want to give you some goals that you can gradually accomplish in order to have a positive impact on your kids and be more intentional about the time you are spending with them.
How to Spend Intentional Time with Your Kids
DAILY conversations: Take time each day to deliberately have a conversation. Maybe it’s asking a quick easy question that will help you connect (make sure to ask the right questions). Maybe it’s just noticing something, but connect on a daily basis. Pick a time…maybe before bed, during dinner, right when you get home, or some other time…to intentionally look your kid in the eyes and connect with them through meaningful conversation. Even 5 minutes will go a long way.
WEEKLY hangouts: Be intentional on a weekly hangout time with each of your kids. Take them somewhere, if you can. Maybe it’s to the ice cream parlor. Maybe it’s a coffee shop. Maybe you schedule a game night or a round of that video game they’re into. Set a time. Connect deeper. Do it each week. Make it something you both look forward to. Spend more than five minutes on this weekly time together. It will likely be something you and your kid look forward to.
MONTHLY outings: Each month, do something together as a family. Picnics, movies, mini-vacations, fishing, hiking, or even in-house movie nights or game nights for the whole family will work. Just be intentional and schedule out this month’s outing for your family. Don’t let the to-do list crowd out this time. These monthly family outings are building a solid foundation for a FIT family, and you won’t regret scheduling them when the kids are no longer in the house.
Daily, weekly, and monthly habits will help your family spend intentional time together, and this intentional time will make it easier to talk about important things when necessary. Five minutes daily, a half an hour to hour weekly, and an afternoon monthly will definitely change your family.
Remember, small things repeated over time will make a big difference in the way your family interacts with each other.