The best gift you can give - by Candelaria Silva-Collins

The best gift you can give to your children is the gift of your time.  For children, time equals love.  It might seem that because we live with our children we are already giving them our time.  I’m not talking about proximity; I’m talking about focused, one-on-one attention.

How about carving out a time to:

·         Take a walk with your son?

·         Play a game with your daughter?

·         Create a story album from the photos at the last family dinner or vacation?

·         Make oatmeal or chocolate chip or another cookie you like from scratch?

It doesn’t have to be a lot of time, even a half-an hour will do.  It does need to happen regularly.  A friend of mine is from a family of 8.  Her mother used to have once-a-month “date” when each child would come to her room and have tea with her for half an hour with no interruptions.  The door was closed.  My friend said that they looked forward to those Mommy dates.

The blitz of advertisements encouraging us to buy-buy-buy stuff for our children for Christmas can obscure the best gift we can give them – the gift of our time and affection. 

Parent411 encourages you to take out your calendar for 2011 and block out some time for one-on-one time with your child or children.  It’s the best gift you can give them or yourself.

Happy Holidays!