How to Have a Career and Kids: Ways to Spend Quality Time with Your Children

Being a working mother can come with a lot of guilt. All kinds of thoughts can run through your head. Are you doing all you can for your child? Are they getting enough attention from you? At times it’s maddening trying to find a balance between work and kids. But it doesn’t have to be. Here are some tips from veteran moms on how they deal with the pressures of raising children, while still keeping their career.

Timing

Timing is everything when it comes to spending time with your children. What time of day are you at home and feel most relaxed? Right before you leave for work? Right before bed? If you feel relaxed it will make for a more pleasant experience for you as well as your child.
“The only time I have real quality time with my kids on an everyday basis is bed time,” says Candis, mother of two. “I take about 15 minutes with each child and lay down with them. We say prayers, talk about the day, talk about tomorrow, how they are feeling, talk about how much I love them, etcetera.”

Priorities
Before you can schedule a time to spend with your child you must first figure out your priorities.
Figure out what things can be put off or simplified so you can have more time to spend with your child. “Number one, I never take work home with me,” says Karen, mother of one, “and number two, I never work on weekends.”
Most veteran working moms agree that quantity doesn’t matter as long as you have quality. To fit in as much quality time as you can into the average day, show your child that you are interested in her thoughts. Find out what your child’s hobbies are and spend a few minutes each day talking to him about it.
Sometimes, though, all you can do is fit quality time in as the occasion arises. “I don't do any scheduling of quality time,” says Chris, dressmaker and mother of four. “I will take them to see museum shows that they are interested in, we do things as a family, and I will interrupt work to play with Dylan as the mood strikes.”

Time Well Spent

So you have decided when you will have your special time with your child, how much time you can spend, and how you will covey closeness, but what will you do? There are several things to consider:

Is there something you want your child to learn from you? Most small children love to copy mommy and feel grown-up when they start to master something that they’ve seen her do many times.
Don’t have a special talent? There is a world of lessons your child can learn from just listening to stories from your childhood. These could replace a bedtime story.

What habits do you want to pass on? Do you want her to pick up a book instead of the remote control? Then try reading with her as much as possible. “I love to read and would like for my daughter to share that joy as well,” says Ali, mother of one. “Any time I get a few minutes of free time we curl up together with a good book and I read to her.”

Using a mixture of these tips will give you the quality time you crave and will teach your child values that are important to you at the same time.