IN last week’s article, we started looking at the exciting and invaluable subject of giving time to our beloved sons and daughters.

Today we shall build on from where we ended and look at the benefits that accrue to both parties as a result and then move on to explore practical and creative ways we can make this aspect of giving time to our little ones a reality (Part 3).

The merits of parents spending time with their children just like every meaningful and lasting relationship will require time and effort so does parenting.

When parents spend time with their children this allows for bonding, children feel closer and become deeply emotionally attached and connected to their folks and this, for dads and moms is a vantage point to parent from; a place where they are trusted.

Parents are provided with rare insight into the specific needs of their children when they get to spend time with them, they are more pointed in dealing with their needs as opposed to having a generic approach and they keep wandering why they cannot get the desired outcomes.

You have probably heard of children who were wrongly diagnosed as dull or slow learners when the real problem was actually their sight, until somebody took time to get to the root of the problem.

For Children, especially in the early stages of their life, it delights them immensely to show case their latest developments to the individuals that matter most (parents), it is actually more fun when they (the children) are given attention.

For them it is indeed more rewarding for their parents to acknowledge their recent strides in life than for anybody else, but then, how can they be noticed if parents do not take time watch and see?

Think of singing a well-rehearsed song before an empty auditorium, because everyone who was supposed to come got busy with this or that thing.

Physiological Studies have shown and confirmed that when parents spend more time with their children, particularly teenagers, it also acts a deterrent to behaviour challenges, violence and drug use.

Among the many reasons why this is so, could be the intrinsic value children attach to the time they spend with their dads and moms and are unwillingly to tread that healthy relationship for anything, worse for bad behaviour or drugs.

Parent-child communication is very much enhanced when parents spend more time with their children, it is vital to think of communication in a holistic sense to include non verbal communication.

The power of example is only fully explored with time… spending more time with children allows parents to model for them life-(how it ought to be lived) .We demonstrate and paint a vivid picture of what kind of parents we are hoping our children to be to our grandsons and granddaughters.

You will appreciate that the topic at hand is spending time with children not wasting time… you may wish to think of it as a rewarding kind of spending or simply an as investment. History is void of parents who took this approach lived or live to regret.

For any investments to yield desired returns it must be treasured, well secured and properly natured among other things. The same applies to this aspect of folks spending time with their kids.

The need to prioritise these moments cannot be overemphasised, parents should be vigilant in ensuring that encroachers are dealt with justly, they need not allow any wish-wash appointment or commitment rob them of sweet fellowship with their children and it is absolutely vital to also implore the virtues of good artist in ensuring that they are creativity in their approach in the quest to spend time with the children the love.

Merry Christmas to you!

(The writer is a parent, Sunday School teacher and is passionate about child physiology and, email add: tendakamba@yahoo.com, mobile 0962 843443)