Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Brief, Intentional Family Transitions
My wife and I have busy schedules. Sara is a full-time mom and a part-time student. I am a full-time student and a part-time community college instructor. We have a lot going on.
It is very easy to pass our daughter in-between each other, going from activity to activity. However, we know from experience that this results in a lot of emotional dis-regulation, not only for our daughter, but for us as well.
When time permits, why not schedule a half-hour of family time, to buffer the transition from one parent to the other? For example, if I am coming home from work and Sara needs to go to school, why not come home half-an-hour earlier? Then we get to play "kitchen", "kick-the-ball", or "run-up-and-down-the-hallway" for thirty minutes before mom leaves. It isn't just good for our daughter, rather it is life-giving to all of us, even to our marriage.
When time permits, try to schedule family time into those transitions, if possible.
(photo taken with permission from KrisBee_Biscuit @https://www.flickr.com/photos/beebeekis/)