It's All About Them!

Hello and welcome to my first blog posting. Are you a father of one or more "little angels"? I have 2 of my own (a 3 year old girl and a 7 month old boy) and they sure do keep my wife and I busy! I'm also the IT department for a very small software company which keeps me working at least 60 hours a week. On top of that we bought a new house a little over a year ago and we have a lot of plans to make our own. I know I'm not the only one trying to juggle work, family and friends. So here's a little tidbit of knowledge that I have picked up. So where do I find the time to give my wife and kids the attention they need as well as giving myself a few moments of peace?

The answer: It's All About Them (and hopefully a little about me).

I firmly believe that while it may be difficult and frustrating you have to take the time now to give your family full attention. Because as time goes by your kids won't want to hang out with you so you better enjoy the time now when your "their world". What I try to do to make it bit more enjoyable is include the family in things that I like to do. Therefore we are all having fun. Now you might say "how the heck do I include a 3 year old and 7 month old while I'm watching the football game?"

Well in almost anything you do there is something for everyone. You just have to look a little deeper. So for example, It's Sunday afternoon and the game is about to start. Along comes the wife and she hands me the baby saying it's "my turn" to entertain him. Then the 3 year old runs in asking me to read her a book. Ah geez...there goes the game. Contraire mon frere!

What I would do is first take the baby and then sit down and read the book with both kids (they're short books). Once the book in done I've only missed a few beer and car commercials, plus maybe the kick-off. No big deal but now the kids want to do more with you...so now what?

The baby is pretty easy. I just find some toys or other items the baby hasn't played with in a while and surround him with them and he's good for a least 20 minutes and then I'll try some more toys. The 3 year old can be a bit more challenging but can also be lots of fun. I always try to make a learning experience from it. So I ask her first what sport they are playing. Then I ask her to find some numbers (on the jerseys) or ask her to find the animals (team logos) on the field. There are plenty of other games like that to make it fun for all.

The more you look into something the more things you can find for everyone. I have even used this time to play some basic games. Such as my daughter loves to play the game UNO. It's a great learning game by matching colors and numbers plus it doesn't take to much of my attention so I can still listen and watch the game while giving my daughter the attention she craves. I also promise to take her outside (weather permitting) at half time and throw a ball around or just chase her around the house.

What about the wife? Well I know my wife is just happy to have sometime to herself. Her full-time job is watching is watching the kids so giving her a few hours of peace and quiet is enough for her.

I've found this works pretty well. But one thing we men have to face is that now that we have kids we can't just think about ourselves. Until the kids are older we're not gonna be able to sit down and watch a game uninterrupted. Yes, you may miss a big play but most of us have a DVR now so we can just rewind. Remember you can always rewind TV if we miss something. We can't rewind our kids childhood so don't miss it by thinking only of yourself and not of your family.

This time is too precious. Take lots of pictures and video because before you know it they'll have kids of there own.