Play with your kids

This is something that’s hard for me. I look at most parents and they do a good job at playing with their kids and I seem to be on the outside looking in. It’s not that I don’t want to play with them, it’s just that I’m not sure how.

This is where we learn as a parent. Trial and error. Play with them as you know how. I brought up my old hot wheels the other days for my kids. When my wife went out to the store I had her pick up some more hot wheels for the track. We had a good time until they got disinterested and went back to the TV. So then I got disinterested myself and played on my phone.

That’s my downfall. When the kids watch TV I watch my phone. I don’t know what else to do at that point so I preoccupy myself with my phone. Typically it’s a crossword or instagram but it could be email or amazon window shopping. I’m trying to be better but I keep falling into it’s trap.

Here’s what I started to do – I set my phone on focus mode starting at 7. This gives me one solid hour to do nothing. My apps disappear from phone and I have to search them to use them. So I don’t get sucked into opening apps when I get bored. I have to take it one step further to look them up. This is just my most recent attempt to be more present and be better with my kids. As the days get longer, I’ll be able to play with them outside more and hopefully get rid of the winter blues.