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When it comes to work, it’s easy to get lost in it. You want to provide for your family, and putting a lot of time, energy, and effort into your job is how you do that. It’s completely understandable! After all, if you didn’t have that job, what would your children eat or where would they sleep? Bills have to be paid, and they don’t wait until you’re ready to pay them.
With all of this being said, the inability to separate work and family time has caused a lot of tension and conflict amongst families. Sadly, parents sometimes become so hyper focused on work that they forget the family that they are supposed to be supporting. While providing financial support is very important, emotional support and just being there with your children is vital as well. You don’t want to be remembered as that absentminded parent. Your child should look at you and see a loving, caring parent and not the back of a phone or laptop.
Work is important but it should never come at the expense of quality time with your family. If you work a job that doesn’t simply allow you to clock in and out and does require you to be on alert even when you aren’t in the office, then you should communicate that with your family in order to find a compromise. Having a high demanding job is no excuse to completely neglect spending time with your family. With good communication, you can come up with agreed periods of time where everything work-related has to be put to the side, because if a job requires 24 hours of your time seven days a week then you should probably look into a new career path if you also want to raise happy, healthy children.
If you find yourself questioning whether or not it’s the right moment to take on something work related, think about what you are doing at the moment. If everyone is just hanging around not really doing anything, then feel free to! But, if there is an engaging conversation or you are doing something with the family then respectfully block out that time to be in the moment with your family. Family dinner, an outing to the park together, a stroll through the neighborhood, movie night, vacation, and game night are good examples of this.
During these times, as much as you feel like you have to, don’t get distracted by work. Don’t step outside to take a phone call or pull out your laptop to respond to an email. Be actively engaged in conversation and listening to your family. You will find that the laughs and memories that you will make together with your family far outweigh the paycheck you receive twice a month!
