My 14 year old loves lip gloss! She loves the feel of lip gloss, “the shiny lip,” that his her defacto look!

Teenagers are funny. Not ha, ha funny. Just weird.  The mood swings, the tantrums, the laughing fits… sounds like bosses right, but I digress!

I actually always wanted a daughter. I remember being younger and wanting to tell my parents everything. I wanted to tell them about some of these crazy feelings and the boys I met. Even as I grew older, I knew without a doubt that I wanted to have a daughter.

I love spending time with my daughter. Hearing her tales of boys, friends and more. More than anything else children value our time. How much time are you spending with your kids?

The things I remember growing up almost always involve spending time with my parents. I remember going on the vacation with my parents, going out to dinner, going to church,  going to the beach, visiting other family members and friends. All of these memories involved lots of time, more specifically, parents spending time with children.

Time is the most important gift that you can give to your children. I really appreciate the time that my parents spent with me.

As a single parent, I must admit it is challenging to find time to spend with your child or children, afterall I have to work!

So here’s the conundrum. I want to spend time with daughter. But then, I have to go to work. I work longer hours to get a better salary. Then when I get home, I am tired after working those long hours. When I get home, I am usually too tired even to speak! The real bonding time comes when I am tucking my daughter into bed. That’s our nightly ritual. Usually at this time she wants to tell me everything that happened during the day. By the time I get around to the tucking in ritual, I am really really tired and do not want to talk very long.

So in order to get out of this vicious cycle, I started to make a concerted effort each week to spend time with my daughter. First, it helps to set aside some time each week that you dedicate specifically to spending time with your child or children. Once you have decided upon the day and the time, then you need to decide what activities you will be doing.

Spending time with your kids

Here some suggested activities:

Cook together

Find your favorite meals and cook them. My daughter was the only person I knew, on this entire planet, who thought I was a great cook! I didn’t believe it. Her belief in me helped me to be a great cook today. Check out my recipes in the Veggie Foodie section!

Go on date nights

My daughter and I have been going on date nights from since she was about 7 years old. She is 14 now.  Date nights could be at home just hanging out together or going out, trying new restaurants etc. You could do just about anything for date night.

Visit historical sites

Visit historical sites, library, museum etc. For example, one of the favorite ways to spend time with my daughter is going to the library. We both love to read, so this was a no brainer.

Exercise indoors and outdoors

My daughter and I go hiking, bike riding, walking. You can also exercise indoors depending on the weather. I usually did not have money to buy stuff, so exercising was an inexpensive and healthy way to spend time together. As the new year begins we are doing a “3,000 push up” challenge. Her idea!

Watch movies together

This is actually pretty fun. We both enjoy “chic flicks.” I always try to ensure that the movies my daughter looks at are age appropriate, and even try to explain and discuss concepts and ideas while the movie is going on. I must admit, my efforts are not always well received!

Play games

There are tons and tons of games. Board games, word games, card games. Pick the games that you enjoy the most and start playing!

Eat together

The simple act of consciously sitting down to eat with your child shows that you want to spend time with him or her. Have at least one meal each day or per week where you sit down together to eat at the table. Set the table. You can dine at home or in a restaurant, whichever is more affordable.

And finally,

Worship together

Pray,  sing and worship with your kids. Taking the time to build the spiritual ties between yourself and your children, and God will reap bountiful rewards. Children remember those times. I know I do.

Spending time with your kids, even putting on lip gloss, can mean the world to them and you too. So get moving, your children will remember these times forever!