Bonding with Your Kids

Dads' traditional role as breadwinners means that they spend relatively less time with their kids than the moms. Breadwinner dads often need to be creative regarding things to do with their kids. Here are some tips to help dads bond with their kids:

* Make time for them: Reserve some part of your day exclusively for your kids. Spend this time doing something together, like going for a jog in the morning, or playing a game of scrabble in the evenings.

* Plan outings: Take your family out for a picnic. Weekend outings provide an excellent opportunity for bonding and suit even dads who work tight schedules during the week. A longer annual vacation is another time when the family can look forward to spending quality time together.

* Look beyond the idiot box: While television has its benefits, it is generally not a great idea for fostering family togetherness. Restrict television viewing in your home to make time for other interactive activities.

* Talk with your kids: Find things to talk about with your kids; it could be stories from your day at work, or some interesting anecdotes from your childhood. Similarly, encourage your kids to tell you about the details of their day at school.

* Share a hobby: Getting your kids to take an interest in your hobby is another great idea for bonding. Whether you are into gardening, aeromodelling, or photography, sharing a passion with your children is fun, and presents an opportunity for teamwork.

* Help with the homework: Helping kids with homework or school projects is one way for dads to share active parenting duties, while, at the same time, connecting with the kids.

* Enlist their help: Get your kids to help with household chores, such as washing the car or mowing the lawn. They not only learn to be productive, but enjoy the activity.

* Eat with them: The number one way you can make sure they eat right and also keep open communication with you is to eat one meal together as a family every day.

Nobody ever said single parenting is easy. As parents, we all learn with time. However, too often, the pressure of single parenting can be so overwhelming that it's easy to make parenting mistakes.

Paul Banas is a founder of GreatDad.com. He writes articles on parenting, pregnancy tips and many more topics related to dads.