Parenting on the Go

Being a working parent means there is never enough time for everything. You can't short change your job and you don't want to short change your child. But where do you find the time you need to nurture a relationship to them? Here are a few ways to carve out some time each day for the family:

Reduce Commute Times

 
If you sleep 8 hours and work 8 hours, that only gives you 8 hours a day on weekdays for everything else. That everything else includes showering, eating, meal prep, time with the kids, down time and commuting. Commuting can cut deeply into what little time you really have for non-essentials. Of course, cutting down on commute times likely won't happen overnight. It will probably take time. But you can look into working from home, living closer to work, working closer to home and arranging for your child's school or daycare to be as conveniently on the way as possible.

Make Errands as Convenient as Possible

 
Use the internet to research what your options are that are conveniently near work, home or along your usual route. Find grocery stores, dry cleaners, great places to eat and other necessities that fit as easily into your life as possible.

Use the Drive Through

 
When you have one or more kids in the car, every stop seems to geometrically increase the amount of time it takes to do anything. Find out what all your drive through options are. In addition to eateries and coffee places with drive through windows, look for pharmacies, dry cleaners and other services.

Get It Delivered

 
Instead of you running around all over town trying to take care of errands, take advantage of services that deliver to your home. Keep all your favorite take-out phone numbers on your cell phone and look up other services that will deliver. This can include pharmacies, grocery stores, laundry services, cleaning (why not try some christmas cleaning services) and many more things.

In order to have a healthy, close relationship, you need to be able to invest at least 15 hours a week. Carving about two hours or so a day out of your schedule for family time can be a challenge, but it pays dividends. If you can find roughly two hours a day, you can rest assured that you are not a stranger to the people who matter most to you.