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Quantity vs. Quality: Which is Best for the
Busy Dad and Child?
Busy parents may often find themselves having a hard time when
it comes to spending time with their children. Even worse,
parents may feel that they are spending a good amount of time
with their children but not really doing much to establish a
bond with the child. When a busy father is trying to spend time
with their child they may often find themselves feeling that
they can either spend a good amount of ‘empty’ time with their
child or they can spend a relatively smaller amount of time
with their child doing something that is very significant of
spending quality time with their offspring. The truth of the
matter is, there is no real way to determine whether a busy
father is better of fspending quality time or more quantities
of time. The key lies in: finding a comfortable area of
moderation between the two.
It is nearly impossible for a busy father to factor in lots of
nothing time with their child. Even putting a child to bed is
something that makes the child feel close to their parent. As
busy as fathers can be, there is often at least one night that
they have available to put their child or children to bed.
However, it will be important for the busy father to see the
importance in this otherwise simplified or potentially mundane
task. Putting children to bed may seem like a repetitious or
“quantity” categorized task, but with the right amount of
effort it can easily be transitioned to a quality categorized
task. Most tasks can be considered quantity tasks on the part
of the busy father, but it is up to this dad to make the best
of the situation with their child and to try to turn the event
into something meaningful.
On the other hand, it is very important that even the busiest
of fathers not hold off on spending time with their child or
children just to do something monumental in terms of quality
once or twice a month. If a father acts in this manner, the
child may not feel that they can rely on their father for help
when it comes to day-to-day tasks. Even though the point of
such time together may be to instill in the child a sense of
family unity, it can be very difficult for the child to feel
this way when they rarely see their father. It can also
potentially cause the child to resent the father.
Since the key on the part of the father should be to help the
child to feel comfortable with the father, it is important that
the father act in ways that will let the child know that the
father is there for the child, even when the father is busy.
This does not mean that the father needs to be like Superman
and be able to control the world, but rather that the father
has priorities and that while his day to day business is
essentially and valuable to the family, the family is the
reason that he works as hard as he does – in order to provide
for them. Children need to know that they are the reason for
their father’s more hurried lifestyle and that the father does
see them as paramount in his life.
Remember, fathers, it is more important to find a balance than
to define your life as either hanging out with your child a lot
filling in empty time, or hanging out with your child rarely
but accomplishing a great deal (at least in your mind).
Moderation is essential!
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