If you had to make a choice between quality or quantity time with your kids, which would you choose?
Parents often grapple with not spending enough time with their kids. But a new study by the University of Toronto states that it isn’t about how much time, it about the kind of time you spend with your children.
One of the report’s authors and sociologist at the University, Melissa Milkie says, “I could literally show you 20 charts, and 19 of them would show no relationship between the amount of parents’ time and children’s outcomes.”
The study focused on kids ranging in ages three to eleven – concluding that there is no correlation between how much times a parent spends with a child, and how children grow up. However, they did find a small correlation with teens.
For parents like myself who often feel bad for working long hours, one would think that this study should allow us to feel less guilty about being away from our kids. However, this shouldn’t serve as a green light for parents to avoid quality time with their little ones.
This is a common thread that I often see in the stories we cover. As the study states, teens were affected by the lack of attention.
We often report kids as young as pre-teens falling on the wrong side of the law. The common denominator – there’s no parental supervision. But, when I think about my childhood and how hard my Mom worked to put food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our heads, it does put things into perspective.
Quantity time may have been sparse during the week. But, we made up for it during the holidays. Plus, she was a strict disciplinarian, making sure we stayed out of trouble.
The key is to find some balance. Just because you don’t spend enough time with your kids, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t monitor their progress.
My work hours tend to get a little crazy sometimes, which leaves me very little time with the kids. I’m fortunate enough to get them up and ready for school every morning, but that’s the extent of our quality time during the week.
Even on cranky mornings, driving my kids to school is the highlight of my day. Then we look forward to hanging out on the weekends.
There are those moments when I fantasize about being a stay-at-home mom, so that we can spend more time together. But then, I’d be faced with the hard decision of leaving a job that I love so much.
Right now, my hubby and I focus more on spending quality time with our kids. It may not be the ideal situation, but it works for our family.
Would Choose Quality or Quantity Time With Your Kids?
