Quality time Vs. Quantity time

It’s a term we modern parents have invented to justify the amount of time we spend with our kids. I for one don’t agree with the notion that kids need just quality time. I feel kids need quantity and a large quantity of your time. Just being there in the same room while you shell the peas and your little one colours or does his homework may not sound like quality time to some but it’s very important nonetheless…. You need not necessarily bond with your child all the time but your presence itself is soothing and reassuring for kids.

The conversations that happen when you are busy watering the plants with your little one at toe or cooking while your kid plays around with the utensils, pretending to be a chef himself, are all wonderful moments of quantity or might I say quality time spent with your kids. Even watching TV together versus plopped in front of TV alone, has a vast difference. Watching TV with kids and talking about the characters and discussing what’s happening on screen could be far more enriching than just staring at the screen by yourself.

And when it comes to the tweens and teens, it is this quantity time that sees them through, believe me, because you never know when they would feel like opening up and want to talk to you about something. As parents we all know that you can never have a heartfelt conversation with your child by saying “Let’s talk” or “tell me what happened in school today”. No….it doesn’t work that way at all. It’s when you are doing some mundane task or reminiscing about your own childhood while folding the bedding or changing the pillow covers, when that kind of heart- to-heart conversation happens. And for that to happen, we have to be around more often.  You cannot schedule these moments, it happens when you give a lot of face to face time.

Having said that, I also want to say that not every one of us has the luxury of time; we don’t know what the other person is going through to make ends meet or what their journey is all about; Every parent is trying his or her best to provide the best childhood for their kids, so there is no right or wrong way to do it. But, for those lucky, some of us, who have the luxury of time, I would say quality time is great, but don’t undermine quantity time…..it too does wonders for your kid. It is not hogging the limelight as its counterpart “quality time” but it is silently playing a very vital role in building your kids’ sense of security and outlook towards life in general.