[HappyMomAnna]

I have heard many parents say they don't feel they have time....both parents who work all day and parents who stay at home........ Time is what we make of it. Some days we have more and some days we have less...... but, it is how we feel when we use our time that seems to make the biggest difference...... It only takes a moment to connect with those we love. It does not need to be hours...
In our family we SET aside special time for everyone..... Each evening when daddy comes home we eat supper as a family. After supper, daddy gets his 15 mins with baby brother and mommy has her 15 mins with big sister.....and then we switch. In our 15 we focuse on the child and the time we are spending....we talk, or do a chore together, or read a book, play a game or just sit together. We have a rule not to barge in on anyone elses special time.... and the children are also taught the mommy and daddy have their special time together as well.
All said and done we can effectively provide one on one attention to each memeber of the family in the matter of an hour....
Even a mother at home all day can missuse the time she has....it is not about how much we share it is that we give our time consistantly and undeivided..... at least once in each day it is possible to make each other the most important thing in our lives.
Not having TIME is an excuse to me.....It is how we use our time that matters and everyone can find 15 mins to connect directly to another human it is easy to believe there is no time but, time is what we decide to make it....
There are nights when the 15 mins are painful to give, but none of us dies doing it....and afterwords we can often find a renewed energy for sharing such a tiny chunk of our day.

allof us should exercise daily for our own health---it is not hard to take a family walk in the morning or evening....
It takes 2-10 mins each night to read a child a book.... We use bedtime story to let one of us take a break from the day and be alone....while the other reads a few words to connect.
Unless a parent is leaving for work before the children wake up and coming home after they sleep there is no reason connections cannot be made..... If a parent is busy, they have opportunities to involve the children in someway. If it is an arrand to the store, there is a car ride---turn off the raido and talk to your children.
Some of the most rewarding converstaitons I had with my now 20 & 19 year olds happened in the car on the way to the store!
Children do not want for unending hours of our undevided attention---they simply want for us to get to know them, rejoyce in their accoplishments and talk about their fears. In fact most of us parents feel we need to go on and on about sensitive issues when in reality our children would rather we not go on and on.... Every important issue does not need to become a long lecture--the important issues need to be talked about in small times often. This makes our children feel safe to talk with us, knowing they will not end up in an all night conversation about why smoking is a bad thing to do. It takes a few moments to open the door and a few moments to keep that door open.
Even as our children grow and move a way from home -- A 5 min phone call can reconnect them and remind them the door is open the parent is here for them and it is ok to come for the 5 mins it takes to tell mom and dad how hard college is or the new job is...or what some boyfriend said....