Tip for working parents - Make sure you call your kids
Does you work schedule keep you from seeing your kids as much as you would like? Does it feel like the chaos when you walk through the door keeps you from getting a chance to hear what your kid has been up to?
There’s a simple way to keep in touch. Give your kid a call.
My kids are in preschool so they are still home most of the day. Sometimes I will call around lunchtime and Beagoodmom will help them use the phone. I get to hear about all the exciting things they are doing as well as answering their questions about what I am doing at work. It never takes more than five minutes and I always feel recharged afterward. Sometimes I even have a kid story to tell coworkers and for somebody that does not talk much at work that is like gold.
If your kids are older, you will need to call early in the day or after school depending on when you are at the office. After school would be particularly good because it would give you a chance to ask them questions about how school is going. If you start early enough and stay interested but not intimidating, it might help keep that communication channel open when the kids are older.
We all carry phones with us nonstop these days. We might as well use them to keep in touch with our kids. And, if you really want to make your kids’ night, someday use that cell phone to order pizza on the way home.
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POSTED IN: Busy Parenting, Career and Kids
2 opinions for Tip for working parents - Make sure you call your kids
Kate
Oct 15, 2006 at 9:50 am
My dad used to call us every day at lunch time when we were pre-schoolers too. It must have been meaningful to us too. I remember the habit 30 years later!
twinmom
Oct 24, 2006 at 7:25 am
If you are going to do this, you must remember a few things:
Young kids don’t yet understand the cadence of conversation and you will get alot of dead-air and interruptions. Just roll with it.
Ask very direct questions, or you will not get an answer and the kids will feel frustrated.
Ask questions you already know the answer to, so you can better understand a preschooler’s creative response.
Tell them when to say good-bye, or you will never have a proper out.
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