Jeff Brazier, the ultimate working dad shares his top tips and hacks ahead of Father’s Day on how he manages to spend quality time with the kids.
- Device amnesty: Put your phone down – possibly the most offensive four words you can ever say to a teenager. But when they do, conversations are had and some of the best memories are made. We are all so tied to technology these days that it doesn’t hurt to take some time out for real, quality time together
- Family meal times: Every day is different with my work schedule but as a family we try and make an effort to cook together a few times a week. I think it’s really important for the boys to have ownership and responsibility for something, and cooking is a fantastic life skill! Sitting down together as a family to eat dinner is also proper quality time, where we can discuss our days, any worries and have a laugh
- Delegate time-intensive chores: It’s so important to spend quality time with my kids. My schedule can often be all over the place – including weekends when the boys are off school. The last thing we want to be doing is chores so sometimes we get help with the more time-intensive jobs like ironing or cleaning the house so we can focus on spending quality, fun time together
- Exercise together: At the weekend, when I get a day off we’ll head to the gym or go on a bike ride, something we all enjoy doing together – it’s good to get out of the house to burn off some energy and exercise, but importantly it’s a great way to bond
- Getting the kids to do chores: Routine is so important but it’s sometimes hard when things get busy and there’s lots going on. At the beginning of the week we breakdown the smaller jobs that need to done including; bin duty, football kits in the wash etc. and each take a task to own. It gives the boys a sense of responsibility but there’s also sometimes a reward involved, for example, a sleepover with friends if we have a good few weeks, which helps to incentivise!