QOTW - bonding with your kids

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-13-2005
QOTW - bonding with your kids
4
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 10:00am

Okay - cocoparis brings up a great point - we do all get stressed as a single parent trying to make ends meet, be 2 parents at the same time, get a social life for ourselves in a world of married couples, and try to find a date or deal with a dating relationship. It is NOT easy for any of us.

So, I was hoping to get more ideas on here for what you do to make your kids feel special and to connect and bond with them? I know the moms on here have great simple cost effect ideas and would love to hear all of them!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-31-2006
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 1:35pm

Hello cl-west1745 and all,
It can be stressed. Just trying to find the time for all that. It is done right hard. But I try to always have time to set aside for my kids. We have date night together. Pizza and a movie. Or bowling and going to dinner. My favorite thing is when we are all at home and we have nothing planned and when got some pizza or anything else and you have to have ice cream , we put on our pjs and watch home movies from when they were younger. I love that the most. We laugh and and cry because my dad past away 4 years ago and when we see him, the meaning of family comes to light. And then we sit around and talk.
And because I do have 3 teenagers and they all have part time jobs , time gets hard to all be home at once, I try the one on one time together. It is special. They all love that as well. We go shopping and as you all know be single parent money can be tight, we window shop or just try things on.
It would be nice to as have extra cash but the saying is right, THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE. AND THAT WILL BE THE TIME WE SPEND WITH OUR KIDS.

I am look forward for other things you all do. All take care and have a great day.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-21-2006
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 1:44pm
Totally agree, the time we spend one on one with each kid is so precious, so important. I love when my teens just start blathering on about their lives and I just listen. When my boys were younger we used to go on family hikes, I look forward to doing that w/ DD when she gets a bit older.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-08-2006
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 3:39pm

We don't watch television, ever, so to make my kids feel special I'll let them pick a video to watch, and instead of doing laundry, homework or the dishes, I'll sit down and watch it with them. Sometimes we pop some popcorn or have a treat, but it's more about my undivided attention doing something THEY have picked than what the thing is.

Another thing we do is turn up the tunes (there's always music playing somewhere in our house) and dance like there's no tomorrow. The kids will make up silly words, or write their own songs, and we just have a blast.

Pretty much anything that they get to pick and I am fully present for is special to them, since time is always an issue for us.

Moody, pressed for time at work today!


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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-22-2006
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 4:24pm

I have an eight year old boy who is super active so here are some things we do that I know he loves to pieces:
(most of these are cheap since thats where we are financially at the moment and they also get us moving so that he gets to maybe maybe just maybe wear his cute self out,lol)

I sometimes decide to take our bikes when running an errand and we both wear back packs to carry things back ( we live in the city) and I just as often choose to walk because we always end up talking the whole way to and fro.

We always always walk together to school and I really believe that getting active for him makes him start talking and emoting more for some reason.

We do have movie night once a week and he definitely looks forward to that. We alternate between him choosing and me choosing and I never never disappoint. Last one I picked was Goonies - love that movie!!

I have a family member come to dinner once a week or we go to their house - whichever is more convenient to them. I think this helps him feel that family unit and I like it too

I take my son and our puppy to the dog park with stuff to do for both of them. Sometimes the puppy becomes the monkey in the middle but it is always fun for everyone.

We make pizza together once a week and he gets to choose the toppings. We also do raclette together which is just as interactive and I follow my mom's best rule of parenting re: food with kids which is to only offer choices that are good so that they cant go wrong. She never asked us if we wanted asparagus - she would ask " Do you want two or three spears of asparagus?" Loved her!!

Lilypie - Personal picture