There is no question about it that working mothers are the most pressed for time. Not only do they have to make sure their children are at school on time and they get to work on time, but then they have to come home and make sure everything gets done at home too. So, how is a working mother supposed to take care of all of her responsibilities and fit in quality family time too? There are several tips listed below to help you with this common dilemma.
Get Everyone Involved at Dinnertime. A great way to fit in family time at night is to get everyone involved in the dinnertime routine. You don’t have to be in the kitchen alone preparing your family’s meal. Instead, get the children involved…even your spouse can help too. All you have to do is give your children each a job to do as you prepare dinner. It may only be setting the table or loading the dishwasher as you cook. The point is that everyone is in the same room and can interact with each other during this time. You can also take this time to teach your children how to cook once they are old enough to really help with the food preparation.
Turn Off the Distractions. This is another one that deals with the dinnertime routine, but it’s an important one. It used to be that families discussed how their individual days went with each other as they ate dinner at the table. However, today many families aren’t eating at the same time, much less in the same room. Therefore, turn off the outside distractions and get everyone at the table at the same time. A few things that should not be allowed during dinnertime is the television to be turned on, your children listening to their iPod, no cellphones and no answering phone calls while everyone is eating. This alone will give you much more family time than you had before.
Prepare Meals in Advance. While a lot of women enjoy cooking, the truth is that it does take up a lot of time in the evenings. Time you could be doing something else with your family such as enjoying a walk around the neighborhood, playing a game of scrabble or just watching television together. Therefore, a great way to eliminate this problem is to prepare a few meals in advance for each week. You can eat leftovers one night while on another night you can pull out a meatloaf you prepared over the weekend and froze. Evening designating one night of the week as “pizza” night will help increase family time together.
Have Movie/Game Nights. Obviously, every night can’t be a fun night as the kids have to get homework done, baths taken and in bed at a decent time. But, you can still fit in fun family time every week by scheduling a family movie/game night together. A lot of families are doing this on Friday nights when everyone is able to sleep in on Saturday morning. It doesn’t really matter when you schedule it for as long as you do it. As a working mother it’s hard to find the time to spend with just your family, but scheduling a “fun” night every week is an easy way to do it!
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