What Being Your Child’s Friend Truly Means, According To These Practical Moms

• After a long day of work, there are times when you just want to lie down, get some rest, and not do anything. But you see toys scattered on the floor. You instinctively pick them up to put back in your little one’s room, where you see him or her already sleeping soundly. You leave the room with a sigh as another day passes without spending quality time together.

  Benefits of parent-child bonding

  You’re not alone in feeling guilty, as more parents now see the value of bonding with their children. Psychologist and educator Collett Smart explains in a report by The First Five Years that spending time with children tells them that they matter to their parents. It’s also crucial for their development, the expert adds.

  Smart encourages parents to aim not just for quantity, but also quality, of time. This is because children tend to remember the fun and having an attachment when they spend time with their parents in their crucial childhood years.

  Ways to bond with your child

  If you don’t know where to start or you have run out of ideas, here are some of the tried and tested bonding activities that three practical moms share with SmartParenting.com.ph.

  Find an activity that both you and your child enjoy

  Whether through creative activities or household chores, these three moms are happy to be spending time with their children. Rosey Gonzales mentions cooking, doing make-up, playing dress-up, and cleaning the house with her daughter Prima.

  Cooking is also a passion for Juney Tayao and Rolly Sagun that they share with their respective children. Says Rolly, “There’s an instance where I had to buy my child a real kitchen set that actually cooks food.” Additionally, Rolly’s brood likes to sing, while Juney’s is into arts and crafts.

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  Opt for activities that offer important lessons

  Make your time together more meaningful by doing activities that will let you both learn important lessons. This will not only nurture your relationship, but will also help develop your child’s brain and personality.

  Rosey points out, “Our children must enjoy and learn life skills that they can also use in the outside world.” Juney concurs, “Aside from creativity, discipline, patience, and resourcefulness, the most important thing is having fun in what you do.” That’s why she always tells her children, “Do what makes you happy.”

  Support your child’s interests

  What a better way to spend time with your child than through the things and activities that your child personally loves. It could be in the arts or sports, just give your 100% support. This support will help your child gain confidence to pursue different interests in life as he or she grows up.

  You’ll get a clue on what interests your child by, Juney says, listening to him or her. Rolly, for instance, indulges in her children’s “roleplay most of the time.”

  Involve your child in your usual tasks at home

  Letting your child help you with household chores can also be a good idea for a bonding activity. It will also helps him or her gain a sense of responsibility and independence, which come in handy in adulthood.

  Juney shares how she does it: “I usually assign them something to do or ask them what they can do to help in a certain activity, so that they’ll look forward to it, and at the same time, they’ll have fun because they know that they put their effort into it also.”

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  For Rolly, “My number one goal is for them to grow responsible, and I believe that doing things together and teaching or guiding them will help them do things on their own.”

  Eat your favorite food or snacks together with a twist

  You can make your child feel your love through the food you serve, as proven by our three moms. Rosey elaborates, “When preparing food and snacks naman, I go for quick and easy! Healthy pero madali na rin i-prepare lalo na pag nag mamadali.”

  She adds, “Para hindi sila magsawa, dapat creative din tayo at now, si baby ay malaki na din, so I really involve her na sa pag-prepare ng breakfast and snacks niya. Okay talaga kasi enjoy din naman siya.”

  Juney shares her tactics: “For my kids to enjoy their food, I usually make it colorful or design them with something cute and I add variety to their meals. My kids eat their own preference of vegetables like carrots, broccoli, and potatoes so whenever I would want them to try other veggies like celery, kale, parsley, etc.

  “I usually cut it into small bits and pieces and mix it for example with ground chicken or for sandwiches, I mix it with mayonnaise. Surprisingly, they will eat it not knowing that it has veggies on it.”

  This is how Rolly does it with her brood: “We always explore our taste buds especially when we search [in] YouTube and find interesting food ideas so the kids (and I) are literally TASTE-ers.”

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  Join parenting communities for advice and tips

  You can meet fellow parents with similar concerns on various social media platforms, like Smart Parenting Village on Facebook. Such groups and communities have served these three moms well, and it may do wonders for you, too.

  Rosey admits, “I look into social media and ask for advice from my fellow mommas! Through social media like  YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram, I often search for new activities. Through my close group of moms, we often share and compare notes on how to keep the activities with our kids fresh and new.”

  Juney agrees: “I usually get some other ideas from my mommy squad or other mommy communities that we have. When you run out of ideas on what activities to do, feel free to join mommy-friendly communities on Instagram or Facebook.”

  Read here for more fun activities for toddlers.

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What Being Your Child’s Friend Truly Means, According To These Practical Moms
Source: Progress Pinas