But that's not what matters most to them. They want you, and you need to make sure that's what they get—not the television, money, or time at the mall. Just you!
I don't care how busy you are; you must set aside quality time for your family daily. If your job keeps you from spending time with your family, then change jobs. If volunteer work at the church keeps you from spending quality time with your children, resign from that position. It's all about priorities.
If your priorities are out of line, make a quality decision to rearrange them. God comes first, then your spouse and children, church and finally your job. If you get one of those out of order, you'll find yourself in an awful mess.
Make sure your spouse and children know how important they are to you. Plan family outings and vacations together. Enjoy your children while they're young, because you'll never again have this time with them.
Great Ideas
Let's face it: kids like strange stuff! The stranger the adventure, the more they like it. Don't exclude yourself from an activity just because it's a new experience. You may find yourself enjoying it too! Just in case you are having difficulty coming up with ideas of your own, here are several projects to get you started on the path to all-out fun!
1. Build A Blanket Fort
Take a few snack trays, card tables, chairs and some large blankets and—voila!—you have a fort. Grab some flashlights and a few favorite books and read stories together inside your creation. Once the creative juices are flowing, ask each child to make up a story and share it with the family, or begin a chain story.
Here's how it works: one person begins the story and stops it at an interesting point. Then another family member picks up where the previous storyteller left off and adds some more. This goes on until the last family member takes the wild story and ends it. Get ready to giggle!
2. Have A Puppet Show
Using old socks and markers, draw faces on sock puppets (it may help to place light bulbs in the toes to make it easier to draw on the material). Then, take some old yarn and glue the yarn to the sock puppets' heads. For a real nice touch, sew on buttons for eyes.
Give each puppet a name, and make up a short play or have them lip sync to a popular song. Invite friends and other family members over for dinner and a pre-dinner puppet performance.
3. Plan A Pancake Day
Fix pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For extra fun, use chocolate chips, two cherry halves and whipped cream to make a smiley-face pancake. You can also experiment with different syrups and fruit toppings at each meal.
4. Create Your Own Bubbles
Mix six cups of water, two cups of dishwashing liquid and 3/4 cup of corn syrup. Then, bend coat hangers and pipe cleaners into different shapes, dip them into the bubble formula and have a "Who can blow the biggest bubble?" contest.
5. Have A Pajama Day
This is great for rainy weekends or vacation days. Simply declare, "We're staying in our pajamas all day today," and watch your kids' eyes light up! Pop lots of popcorn and watch family movies, play board games or read favorite stories.
You may want to try creating a family "Trivial Pursuit" game for a fun learning experience that will draw the family closer together. Ask questions such as: "What year did dad graduate from high school?" or "How did Mom and Dad meet?" or "What was Mom's maiden name?" If you can't do this for a whole day, just have a "pajama afternoon."
6. Get A Makeover
This is especially fun for little girls. Family members can give one another facials or style hair. Females can practice putting on eye shadow, blush and lipstick, or putting together different outfits to wear. For even more fun, have a fashion show, sporting their ensembles. You'll want to have the camera handy for this one!
Excerpt permission granted by Creflo Dollar Ministries