If you are a father keen to spend more time with your son, that is a situation that many people find themselves in - and one which you are going to want to get right. The truth is that what you want most of all is for that time to be quality time, rather than just spending lots of time together in any old way. So the question is, how can you make sure that you are doing this? As it happens, it might be easier than you think.
It helps, to begin with, just to have a few ideas in mind for great ways to spend quality time with your son. And in this post, we are going to take you through a few such ideas that you may wish to consider. All of the following are going to be hugely important things to consider if you want to spend more quality time with your son.
Put The Phones Away
This is a general rule of thumb that you might want to consider when you are spending time with your kids. It helps to ensure that you're actually paying attention to one another, and that you are going to effectively listen to each other and really be present. Often, you might feel as though neither of you are being fully present, and you can’t really figure out why. At those times, you might want to check for phones and other screens - is it possible that these are getting in the way of good communication and quality time?
Studies have shown that just having a phone on a table can be enough to cause problems between people in terms of not feeling present and communicative. So you might want to think about this in order to ensure you can really be there with your son, as presently and fully as you possibly can.
Do Something Physical Together
Often a great way to spend time as father and son is to do something physical in each other’s presence. There are so many examples of what you might want to do here. You might decide to do some woodworking, to chop logs for the fire, or even to plant a redbud tree in the garden. These kinds of physical acts can help to bond you together much more closely. You might find that they are the main way you can spend time together, and that is definitely something to think about.
You might also find that a lot of what we list here can be thought of as a physical exertion of some kind, and for that reason that is part of why they will be such good opportunities for bonding with your son. Of course, this is not the only approach you can take, but it’s one that is always going to be worth thinking about.
Connect Daily
If you are keen to generally feel closer to your son, then one way to do this is to make sure that you are connecting on a more regular basis. In truth, it doesn’t even matter how you do this in particular, it just matters that you are doing it often. You can make a rule of connecting with your son daily. This could be as simple as five minutes to talk to one another about your day and how you are feeling. If you can do that and make a habit of it - without making a huge deal about it - then that is going to help you out a lot and you’ll both find that you appreciate it.
It can help to make a date for it. So if you put in your calendar when you are going to do this, you will both feel more ready and will likely have more to say to each other as a result too. That is definitely an approach that you might want to consider here and which could help you to feel so much more like a closer pairing.
Go Travel Together
Another great way to spend quality time with your son as a father is to go traveling together. This is especially worthwhile if you have never done this before, as the first time you do it you are probably going to find it draws you together pretty quickly and powerfully. This is just one of those things that you are always going to want to consider, and as long as you do it right you should find that you can effectively get a lot out of it.
If you want to do this, bear in mind you don’t need to go far. You can just go and visit the next town along, for instance, or if you do want to go abroad, just hop over somewhere nearby. However you do it, that is going to help you to have a much better sense of how to spend time with one another. And it’s bound to be a trip that you are never going to forget.
Spend Time Outdoors
This is always a really good way to spend time with your son. In fact, many of the more traditional ways of bonding with father and son involve being out in nature. For instance, you may decide that you want to go camping together, or that you are going to go on a hiking holiday. These are just examples, and there may be other things that you want to consider which you will both enjoy. But the point is that spending time outdoors can be really great for the both of you.
Make sure that you do this once a year or so at least. If you can do that, you should find that it helps you to have a much better chance to spend quality time together and to get closer to one another, which is of course the whole point of doing so.
