10 Reasons to Invest in Time with Your Kids
Spending quality time with family is crucial in our digital world. Your family is where you should find comfort, support, and opportunities to learn and grow. You might argue that your social connections on social media offer the same, but they don’t. Nothing can replace in-person connection – and for kids and parents alike, spending quality time together can aid mental and physical wellbeing.
This is why family time is important, and it’s this connection that a holiday at Country Kids helps to foster.
It’s Hard to Find the Time to Spend Together as a Family
How often do you spend time together as a family? In years gone by, families used to do everything together. The weekly shop. Breakfast. The evening meal at the dining table. Sitting together and watching television, or playing board games. Helping with homework.
This daily togetherness has disappeared for many families. You’ve got so much on your plate. In many families, both parents work. You rarely get to sit and eat together. Kids spend more time on their tablets or mobiles than they do with their parents.
The family holiday is your opportunity to spend quality time together, make memories, and help your children to be stronger. It’s a chance to make sure those important connections remain, and to teach your children about life and relationships.
You see, we’ve learned that quantity of time that families spend together isn’t as important as the quality of time they spend together. Get the balance right, and every family member will reap the benefits.
The benefits of quality family time
Here are 10 reasons why we should never doubt the importance of family time:
1. You build stronger bonds
Have you ever wondered why kids are so easily influenced, get led astray, and join gangs? It’s because they get welcomed and feel like they are part of a family.
Spending quality time with your children helps to develop the bond they need to feel safe and secure. They should turn to you for help and advice, and the stronger the bond, the more likely they will stay on the straight and narrow.
2. You improve mental health
When you have the emotional support of family around you, it’s easier to discuss the things that bother you. Everyone faces challenges – mums and dads included – and being connected and open helps to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression.
3. You show you value each other, and this builds confidence
What better way to show that you value someone than giving them your time? And by doing so you can help your children to develop their self-confidence. You get the opportunity to teach them problem solving skills, and to help them discover their talents.
4. Children who spend quality time with parents improve their academic performance
There are plenty of studies that show a child’s academic performance is linked to the help they receive from their parents. This doesn’t mean doing homework for your children, though! You can show them how to organize their time more effectively, create routines that work for them, encourage curiosity, and develop better relationships with their teachers.
5. You develop parenting skills – in you and your children
As you learn more about your children, your parenting skills develop. But you know what else happens? You pass on these skills to your children. They learn how to parent their children from how you treat them. And they do this from an early age. Watch how your eldest child treats the baby of the family – they mimic your actions.
6. You reduce the chance of drug abuse
There are many reasons that kids turn to drugs, but those who are part of a strong family unit are less likely to seek artificial highs from drugs. They are less likely to be persuaded by their peers, and less likely to use drugs as a way to rebel.
7. Kids who spend quality time with family are better at handling conflict
Let’s be honest, we’re all different. Every family member has their own unique personality – and, as we know, personality clash is a major influencer of conflict. When you work together as a family to solve internal conflicts, you teach your kids to handle conflict more effectively. Kids who learn how to discuss their issues and solve problems with their siblings turn out to be better communicators, and better team members in later life.
8. You get to use time to promote better physical health
When you eat meals that have been prepared from the best ingredients and benefit from being lovingly cooked at home, you all tend to have a better diet. Taking part in outdoor activities promotes better fitness levels and greater flexibility. And you don’t have to play a sport to get physical. Cycle rides, hikes, gardening… all such activities help to improve brain, heart, and hormones.
9. You teach life skills
As well as improving communication ability and conflict resolution, and teaching future parenting skills, the time you spend with your children helps them to develop life skills. Spend time cooking and cleaning together, or decorating, mowing the lawn, fixing things… think back to the times you spent with your parents, learning ‘life’.
10. Love and affection
You know the one thing that binds families the most? Love. When you spend time with each other, you get to encourage each other, hug each other, and show appreciation for each other. When you value time with each other, you stop taking each other for granted.
The value of a family holiday
Life doesn’t allow families to spend much quality time together. Which is why it’s so important to choose a family holiday that delivers all that quality time should. It’s an investment in your family, in your children, and in yourself.
Here at Country Kids, we have the perfect environment for you to focus on family. To take the time to bond. To break free of your daily routine, and show each other the love and affection that is the gift we all can give. To give your kids a chance to learn new skills and make new friends – and for parents to relax and reconnect, too.
And one other thing you’ll find when you holiday at Country Kids – you’ll arrive as our guests, and leave as part of our extended family.
We’re now open for booking for 2022 and 2023. And if you have any questions, please get in touch with Laure and Sylvain, any time, on +33(0)6 77 54 56 00 ─ or by emailing info@country-kids.fr.
