Things about Quality Time with young child

What is quality time?

Quality time together tells our children that we care about them, and has also proven to be beneficial to kids’ development and their happiness.

Let’s talk about the common question.

Is quality equal to quantity?

The key to a healthy relationship is spending quality time together. But what we often forget is that the Quality Time has solid and truthful meaning behind it. Quality time does not mean spending a lot of time together. Quality has never and will never have any assumed correlation with quantity. Quite often in life, quantity has very little quality, and quality has very little quantity.

When children grow up to 20, 30 or 40, they're not gonna say "Mom only spent 7 minutes playing with us on a Thursday. “ What they will remember is what we did in those 7 minutes and how much fun they had. To us, that matters more.

How much time do we really need to spend with our kids? The answer: it all depends. We all raise our kids according to different values, cultures, beliefs, religions, neighborhoods, cities, countries, and so there is no one size fits all. It’s not to say that our time with our kids is not important, it is! There are several studies that suggest that the amount of quality time we spend with our kids - like reading books, playing sports, sitting down to dinner together- have incredible life-long outcomes for them. Also, how a parent consistently interacts with their children - warmth, care, empathy - even in passing plays a huge role in their character development.

 

A deep connection can be built during the most non-obvious times. Don’t force the time, just make use of the time you are already spending with them. A 2007 UCLA study that found "the quiet, in-between moments of family life did as much of the real work of family bonding as any fabricated family time." MacLellan goes on to quote the researchers: "Everyday activities (like household chores or running errands) may afford families quality moments, unplanned, unstructured instances of social interaction that serve the important relationship-building functions that parents seek from 'quality time'." 

Study Case

This morning, I (finally) took a few extra moments to teach my 3-year-old how to do laundry. We loaded the washer together, poured soap together, and pressed the buttons together. As I would normally just rush through this process in order to get it done, I saw it as an opportunity to connect with him. We giggled and made a mess in emptying the dryer lint, but it was so worth it. It lifted our moods for the rest of the morning. Now, not only is the laundry done and Noah knows how to do it, we shared an intimate five minutes together without sprinting through a task.

 

Why quality time is important?

 The fast pace of modern day family life can make it easy to forget that simply just spending time with our children is really important.A large body of research has demonstrated the critical importance of the first three years of a child’s life. The experiences and interactions children have in these early years significantly affects brain development and helps to establish the foundation for future learning. Warm and responsive interactions can create a nurturing and stable environment that enables the development of secure attachments between children and their caregivers—both those within and beyond their families. These attachments support children as they develop a sense of self and begin to understand their emotions, and they lay the foundation for establishing successful relationships at later ages.

 

Less Behavior Issues

Children who spend quality time with their parents are less likely to have behavior issues within the family and at school.  We will probably have fewer arguments and family fights will be less severe if they feel that they are loved and respected members of the family.  Happy, well-loved, and well-adjusted kids are also less likely to have problems at school in terms of disobedience. 

 

Mental and Emotional Health

Kids need to feel loved and cared for.  Parents need to be truly present in their children’s lives and the best way to do this is to spend time with them on a regular basis.  It’s not enough to only be there for important occasions or crises; children need love and attention on a regular basis to become mentally and emotionally strong individuals. 

 

Physical Health

Studies have shown that spending time with our kids can actually improve their physical health as well.  A study published in Pediatrics journal concluded that poor quality mother-and-child relationships early in life, for example the mother not comforting the baby enough, resulted in a 2.45 times higher risk of obesity for the child.

 

Family meal time will also help to keep our kids healthy.  Having them help prepare dinner is a great way to include some family time together, while teaching them the value of having a healthy lifestyle. 

 

How to spend quality time with your child?

· Have a daily “connect” time with your child. Do this face-to-face, if possible; but if this isn’t an option, create a routine for doing so in other ways, such as leaving a note in your child’s lunch bag, posting a note by his toothbrush, or writing an encouraging saying on a shared whiteboard in the house.

 

· Create a special ritual for you and your child—something that can be done every day. For example, let your child choose and read one book with you at bedtime.

 

· Tell your child you love her every day. And tell her how important she is to you and how she makes you feel.

 

· Make and eat meals with your children whenever possible. If time is limited, look for simple meals that require very little preparation, or grab a healthy snack such as an apple and sit for a few minutes and chat with your child.

 

· Schedule time for doing an activity of your child’s choosing. Be sure to follow through and complete the activity without any distractions.

 

· Play with your child, even if it’s during bath time or outside before you drop her off at preschool. Every little bit of time makes a positive impact!

 

· Laugh and be silly with your child.

 

· Turn off technology when you spend time with your child. Try not to text, answer calls, scroll through social media, or watch television.