How do you spend time with your child, or children? The following post title and body was emailed to me from a very close friend of mine who is a father of a wonderful energetic boy. I am taking his email post and splitting it up in to several posts. This father has a lot to say with some really great and valid points.

Do not forget to email me with suggestions that you would like to read, or suggestions or comments on previous posts.

So, I present to you, a New Years Resolution – Part 1

It happens from time to time. In between the e-mails and house chores that divert my attention from my son… every once in a while I manage to spend some time with my son giving him my undivided attention. Take a minute and try to think of the last time you dropped everything, and sat on the floor to engage with your kid(s). No TV in the background, no laptop in the foreground, no smart phone in the one hand, no pot on the stove, no homework on the table. When was the last time you sat with a puzzle, a game, a toy, or simply shared a conversation with your child giving them the precious gift of your time?

If you’re like me, you’ll be disappointed with the answer. I don’t do it nearly enough. Don’t get me wrong. I have long considered myself on the upper average of Dad’s who take time for their kids. I consistently do bath time and bedtime rituals more than 50% of the time. I drive him to school every morning and at least half of those mornings the radio is off and I have 8 minutes of conversation with him. I help with homework and take him to soccer practice and basketball practice and always pause my TV to help him when he’s having trouble beating a level on his Nintendo DS. But is that enough?

The last 10 days my son has been off of school for Christmas vacation so he’s been buzzing around the house with big toys, little toys, electronic toys, loud toys, fast toys, expensive toys that he’s been dreaming about for months. I spent my share of the long weekend surfing the Internet and catching up on television while he played at my feet or sat next to me pushing the buttons on his new toys. When my DVR was out of shows and I ran out of Internet to surf, I turned off the TV and shut down the laptop and invited my son to some quality time.

Part 2 of this post will highlight the activities we shared with some unique twists that might inspire your own household adventures.