Reconnecting with kids one-on-one

Posted under A Geek Dad's Life, Blog Posts

It is an unfortunate side effect of modern life in the U.S.; When my wife and I are home with our kids, we spend our time trying to accomplish grown-up tasks and chores, all while deflecting requests and questions from our three kids.

We tell ourselves that we would never get anything done if we stopped to answer every request and demand.  The truth is that  our house is usually still a mess and we are never done with all of our household chores.

We seem to be working so hard, but we actually accomplish more and feel better when we engage with the kids and get them involved with our chores.  We don’t get them done any faster with the kids’ help, but we feel less drained afterwards.

My wife and I enjoy time alone, but we enjoy one-on-one time with each of our kids even more.  We love all of our kids, but we occasionally need to reconnect with each one individually without the distractions injected by the other two. 

So, my wife got some of that one-on-one time today while she was driving around town with our oldest kid.  Here are some of the questions that were posed to mom:

• Does the road ever end?
• What do airbags do?
• Why do you put money in the bank after you go to college?
• Why do people smoke?

Each question is simple, smart, elegant, and complicated… just like each of our kids.