Balancing work obligations, school or other responsibilities and spending quality time with your kids is one of the biggest challenges of life as single parent. I imagine that if we got all of us together in one room, it would be a huge topic of conversation for us–how to make sure that we spend enough quality time with our kids and let them know that we really do put family first. I have learned that even if I don’t have an abundance of time to devote to my kids, making sure that the time I do set aside stays “pure” and uninterrupted is important.
My kids are quite used to my working from home and having to split my time between family and work. They are also used to me juggling several things at once. This doesn’t mean that they always tolerate it, however, and I have learned that I really HAVE to set aside time to spend with each of them individually and with all of us as a family and that I have to make sure that I will not let work, phone calls, or other things pull me away from that. It may not be hours and hours of uninterrupted time, but by making sure that there is SOME family time in every day that is devoted just to my children, they are much more tolerant of the times I have to work or when I get distracted by other obligations.
As children get older, they do understand better that mom or dad has other things to do. This does not mean they necessarily like it! They also have every right to expect that we will put everything down and just pay attention to them–at least while they are still kids. It is our challenge as single parents to learn how to turn off the cell phone, walk away from the computer, click off the TV and just be completely available for spending time engaged with our children.