How to make time with your children memorable

As a mother and co-owner of a business, I find myself longing for more time in the day. My running mantra is: if I could just have one more hour, I could get that project done, go to a class, read a book…and most importantly – spend more time with my children. I know I’m not the only one who sometimes feels like the kids are growing up on their own, right under my nose. One thing we can do to quiet that nagging worry is to start developing memorable moments for our children and ourselves, right here, right now!

Use Your Own Experience:

When I think back on childhood, I can’t remember large chunks of time. I can only recall snippets of events, flashes, moments. So it is with your child, with memories forming out of fragments of a conversation, a smile, a look, a laugh, a feeling. What’s far more important than the length of time spent, is the quality and emotion captured and recorded during those moments.

Use All Of Your Senses, Especially Smell:

One of the best ways to evoke powerful memories is to link activities to one or more of the five senses. And the one sense that works best for creation and recall is the sense of smell. We can all think of numerous examples supporting this theory, but one of mine is the scent of a certain cheap but ambrosial shampoo. That smell sends me spinning straight back to high school summer: basking in the sun on a river dock, smelling the tang of the breeze, hearing the sharp trill of the birds, and feeling a vague sense of anticipation that something wonderful is ahead. This is a great example of a memory that is rich with sight, feel, and sound, but it’s the smell that triggers the memory most poignantly for me.

Smell is such an effective memory maker that real estate agents sometimes advocate it in staging homes for sale. They advise clients to slide a sheet of chocolate chip cookies into the oven, stir up a pan of hot cocoa, or plug in crock pot of potpourri, before prospects come to view the home. The idea is that these homely scents can trigger warm memories that allow people to visualize themselves as the happy participants suggested by these pleasant domestic activities.

One of the most obvious ways to utilize the sense of smell in the creation of memorable moments is to bring your child into the kitchen with you. Preparing a meal or baking goodies, is something that every parent can do with children of any age. By sharing this time together, you will achieve many things: consumables for the family, lessons about food and nutrition, and a sense of independence and esteem built from positive accomplishment.

Develop A Shared Ritual:

Use family rituals to carve out special times in each day or week just for spending time with family. One of our most important rituals in our family is Sunday dinner. Our busy schedules may prevent us from sitting down to dinner together during the week, but each Sunday we make dinner time special. The children are involved in meal planning and preparation, and setting and clearing the table. This is a special weekly event where everyone is expected to be on their best behavior and display their best manners. Our children may not remember specifics about each dinner we had together, but they are sure to remember the feeling of Sunday dinner: that our family is special and dear to us and deserves to be celebrated and respected.

Be Fully Present:

Whatever precious moments that you get to spend with your child make sure that you make the most of them. Turn off the cell phone, computer, and TV. Try to get some one-on-one time with each of your children so you can pay full attention to them and truly listen to what they have to say…or, just play with them. Not only will this time together be a great way to stay tuned into your child, it’s also sure to provide you both with lovely memories.

Whether it be in the kitchen, the den, or the backyard – the important fact is that you took the time, you made the time, to create good memories for your child. That little bit of arrangement in routines now, will make all the difference in how these moments are recorded and utilized in the future by your child, and yourself!

About the Author

This article was written by Maureen Page, VP of Discount Security Cameras, your source for quality security cameras and security camera systems. Be sure to visit the Interactive Security Camera Learning
Center.