Over the last several weeks, I’ve been feeling a real tension between my work life, home life, spiritual life, physical life (i.e. – excercise), and personal life. Who has time to nurture all these things? Who can meet each one’s demands at the end of the day?
This a great, simple article, “The Easy Way to Double Your Fun with Your Kids” by Jon Acuff that reminds us that relationships and parenting don’t have to be that complicated. Sometimes there is incredible power in just doing normal things together.
I don’t like to run, but I do like my pants fitting.
In order to enjoy that second thing I have to do more of that first thing.
A few times a week I go running, but sometimes my schedule gets really busy. Balancing my career, my family and my faith, sometimes feels like a juggling act.
I have two daughters, age 9 and 11, and a beautiful wife I’ve been married to for close to 14 years. I also have a new book that comes out this spring, you should order it right here, and a speaking schedule that takes me across the country.
I don’t have big swaths of free time in my calendar and need to be really smart about the ways I spend my hours. One trick I’ve had a lot of success with this year is simply inviting my kids into the things I am doing, like running.
My daughters are old enough to ride their bikes with me while I run. Instead of jogging by myself or listening to a podcast, for the last two months I’ve been running with one of my daughters. They take turns going with me so that it becomes a 30-minute midweek date with Daddy.
It’s amazing how much they’ll talk to me during the run. Something about the fresh air, the exercise, and the fun of riding a bike opens up a lot of conversation.
As parents, it’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to balance it all. What if this week you looked at your calendar and simply said, “What do I need to do that I could invite my kids into?” I needed to run, so I invited my kids. I turned “me time” into “we time” and was blown away by what a simple tweak could do.
Do your kids want to go sit and wait while you get an oil change this week? Maybe not, but they might if it meant you brought a board game they’ve been wanting to play.
Double the fun you get to have with your kids by inviting them to be part of your day.
http://theparentcue.org/the-easy-way-to-double-the-fun-you-have-with-your-kids/
So, what’s one thing that you can invite your son or daughter to do with you this week?
Hope this is encouraging. If you’ve got a great idea to do together with your child, post it in the comments.
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