Fathers play a very important role in their families. They are not just financial and material providers. They’re more than just muscle that’s good to have around for duct cleaning or other chores that require brute strength.
Fathers are given the responsibility of leading their families. This means that they are in charge of whichever direction they want their families to go. They are not just supposed to provide financially but loving leadership above all else.
Dads are supposed to be the main advocate for the family and should be the standard-bearer for society’s basic unit. And although it may seem like asking too much from the patriarchs of the household, they are supposed to take the lead in safeguarding quality family time and getting each member involved and engaged.
There’s no better time than now to get to it. The pandemic has forced a lot of parents, especially dads, to stay at home. This is probably the longest time that children have been with their parents in at least a decade. Fathers and mothers have prioritized their careers in hopes of providing better for their kids that they have overlooked the importance of providing good family bonding time with their children.
It’s not yet too late to start. Here are a few things that dads can do to start improving the quality of their time with their families.
5 Ways Fathers Can Improve Their Family’s Quality Time during a Pandemic
1. Never miss out on family time.
When it comes to priorities, fathers should never compromise family time over career or other personal pursuits. As the head of the household, it falls to dads to encourage each member of the family to set aside a specific time of the day (or week) to be with family. It should be a non-negotiable.
To do this, you must agree as a family to make family time your priority. It may be hard when you’re not used to it and are just getting started but like everything else in life, repetition helps instill habits. The important thing is to get something started and keep it as regular as possible. Never compromise it for work or anything else. Learn how to say no to other people if there is a conflict between their request and your scheduled family time.
2. Get chores done together and make it fun.
Spending time with the family doesn’t need to be extravagant. While vacations or trips to the park or mall are all fun, you can also enjoy each other’s company even if you’re doing something mundane as house chores. You just need to make it fun for everyone involved. This way, chores won’t feel like work and everyone will be looking forward to cleaning up, doing the dishes, or taking out the trash.
3. Have your regular Red Table Talks.
If you’re not yet familiar with the Red Table Talk, you’re missing out on a lot. It’s an online show hosted by Jada Pinkett-Smith, Willow Smith, and Adrienne Banfield-Norris where they talk about anything and everything with no reservations but still observing civility and openness, with no persecution nor judgments. Perhaps having your own family Red Table Talk where each member can safely open up whatever’s going on inside their heads can help bring you closer together.
4. Engage in different hobbies together.
Another fun way of getting the family together and knowing each other more is when you all engage in the same hobbies. It may be challenging to look for something that all of you are interested in but if you want it bad enough, you will find one that the entire family can enjoy. It may be going camping on weekends or collecting old coins or rocks. Perhaps you as a family would like to get into baking or try out a new sport. Whatever it is, pick a hobby that you will all enjoy and make the most of your time doing it together.
5. Pray together.
Lastly, not only is the dad supposed to provide and lead but he is also expected to give spiritual guidance to his family. Because man is made of mind, body, and spirit, dads should also be able to provide spiritual sustenance for their families. Regardless of faith and belief system, the father is also the head priest of his household. Therefore, it falls to him to lead his family into prayer and devotion time.
So you see, fathers need to take point when it comes to protecting their families. And making sure that family time is protected and prioritized is perhaps a father’s grandest legacy in his life. And his spouse, children, and even grandchildren will forever be impacted by this. So dads, batter up, step up to the plate, and swing as hard as you can to hit that ball out of the park. Your family will love and revere you for it for the rest of their days.
