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Maintaining a Healthy Bond: What to Avoid When Spending Time with Kids

Spending time with your kids is perhaps the best time you will ever spend in your life. From watching them as they develop into amazing adults to simply being with them as they try to navigate through life, nothing can really compare. However, if you genuinely want to make an impact and ensure they grow up to be productive members of society, it's not only about what you teach them directly but also what you do indirectly that can prove so valuable. This post will take a look at a few of the main things you should avoid when bonding with your children.

Cut Out The Cigarettes

Quitting smoking could be one of the best things you can do not only for your life but also for your children. For you, the benefits are apparent. Better lung capacity, lower risk of all the nastiest cancers, and better overall health. But when it comes to your children, you will make it less likely that they are inhaling secondhand smoke when around you and portraying a much better role model for them. If you find quitting cold turkey too challenging, you can opt for something like a vape that will help to wean you off it over time. You can usually find them with all manner of flavors from Banana flavored vapes to the more wacky like bubblegum. Once you have begun your journey to becoming smoke-free, you will prove to your child that anything is possible if you put your heart into it.

Limit Screen Time For Balance

There is simply no escaping from the fact that tablets and pheons are part of the zeitgeist nowadays. Yes, we would all prefer it if they didn't exist (at least for kids) and they played outside instead, but the modern world is here and is here to stay. Nonetheless, you can and should attempt to limit the amount of time they spend glued to the screen. To make this task even better, you could link their screen time when with you. So for instance, you might set a cheating amount of time where you both watch something educational and then turn the device off and do something else.

Don't Over-Schedule Their Activities

It's easy to overdo things sometimes, especially if you want your child to be the best they can be. You might want them to learn another language, an instrument, or play a sport. But try to avoid scheduling too many activities, as you will ultimately wear them out and possibly make it less enjoyable for them when spending time together. 

Foster Independence And Problem-Solving Skills

Bonding is as much about fostering these skills as it is about being close to one another. Independence is vital if your child is to be able to go out into the big bad world and thrive on their own. Similarly, problem-solving will help them to achieve independence much faster. To achieve this, you should encourage them to make their own decisions and to stick with them. Casually question why they chose a course of action and get them thinking about the pros and cons of it while also considering what to do if their choice doesn't pan out. 

Bonding with your children will allow you to impart a great deal of life skills while giving you quality time together. The ideas in this post should get you started and well on the way towards a loving relationship.