How to have more happy moments with your child: Building happy memories

We know that life can seem as if it is simply flying by in a flurry of work, chores at home and family commitments! We often wish that we could just freeze those happy moments with our kids in time and never let them go!

So how do we make sure that we have more of these happy moments with our kids, without the constraint of something or someone bugging us along the way! Here are some “tried and tested” tips to help you get started.

• Turn off technology – whether it is your phone, computer or television, turn it off, even if just for a little while every day. Technology can be extremely distracting, even though it can often feel like a lifesaver! Our children notice when we are distracted and so rather simply switch off the technology for a little while and focus on them.
• Put that “to-do” list aside once the day is done. Acknowledge what you have accomplished for the day and then spend some time with your kids. Perfectionists we know this will seem like torture but silence and time alone with your kids can be extremely liberating. So go ahead and give yourself a well-deserved break!
• Take time to notice every stage of childhood while your kids are still with you! Be conscious of your baby’s smile and laugh, or how your preschooler’s hand feels in yours, the funny faces your child makes when they are concentrating, or how your teenage daughter looks when talking about her day.
• Treasure every moment! Take a mental “photograph” of every moment and cherish it as a treasured memory.
• Create a record of your moments with your kids. Make a journal or scrapbook of special moments you have with your children, of funny things that they say or how they looked on certain occasions. Try even one line a day to make it a treasure trove of how they grow and develop one day at a time! One day these journal entries will hold a treasure trove of memories both for you and your children.

This is by no means the only ways you can build memories- spend time with your kids and explore with them to find out what is special about your happy moments!