Do You Want To Bond With Your Child? Here's One Simple Way

This is a sponsored post for Kellogg's Chocos #Khuljaye Bachpan Campaign and was first published on MyCity4Kids.com

We are all looking for a harmonious relationship with our family, especially, our children; and every now and then, we attempt to do something about this. But alas, more often than not, we get caught up in our work and there is always that one email, phone call or urgent message that takes us away from our children for just a few minutes, and then that moment is lost! Obviously, later, we fret about how we can spend more quality time with them.

I know the feeling; been there, done that. Time, we all know, is the best thing we can give our children; and I have always looked for ways to spend more and more quality time with my little one. Then one long weekend this January, I found this easiest and the simplest way to (try to) make it up to him! Now, this may not be a fool-proof method I agree, but it is enough for me that I am trying, to begin with.  

You see, we had the luxury of enjoying a long weekend last month, thanks to the Makar Sankranti holiday and since we had just recently travelled for the Christmas vacation, we decided to spend this long weekend at home – a staycation, you could say. Even our little one, who had missed his toys when we travelled, was game and so we all agreed to spend the weekend lazing around the house! 

We spent the first day watching movies. Then we cooked, washed and cleaned the house (with my little one pitching in) and generally had a fun time. We even found time to read before bed!

But the second morning, we started looking for more ideas. We did not want to watch movies anymore. Nor did we need to cook as we still had plenty of leftovers from our over-enthusiastic cooking of the previous day. And we certainly did not wish to get out of the house, although we were precariously teetering towards it. Thankfully, that’s when the miracle occurred!

We had asked our little one to find something for all of us to play; and he went and opened his toy chest in search of something. I had followed him and was happy to see the collection of board games in his toy chest that he rarely ever took out! You see, my little one has received many toys and board games for his birthdays and on other occasions over the years; but he is an only child and both my husband and I have to work during the week, leaving him mostly to play on his own or watch TV or read.

He too is old enough to enjoy his own company; and loves his books, cars and action figures. Plus he also chats with me non-stop (as I work from home, sitting with my laptop wherever he is playing in the house). Nevertheless, he mostly plays by himself; and rarely plays board games.

I remember when he was little and I wasn't back to work yet; we would play together. We played board games, card games and also did puzzles together. But as he grew and got busy with school, I too got busy with work; and the board games took a back seat. Today, with age, his interests have changed so much, that now when I ask him if he wants to play board games, he mostly refuses and prefers reading or watching TV instead.

As a mother who has spent all my time bonding with my little one since he was born – through holidays, festivals, illnesses, anxieties and celebrations – this definitely hurts me somewhere. I am not saying I am not happy he enjoys his own company; but it also scares me to think that he doesn’t always need me to keep him company. 

And that’s why, when I saw my little one staring at all those board games, I just knew what we were going to do for the rest of the day! I suggested we play Monopoly and got my husband on board (who is aware of the way I feel). And over our little one’s protests, we got the big game set out on the coffee table along with orange juice, and chips and Chocos for snacks! 

Before we knew it, our little one had gotten into the game with full enthusiasm(he was the banker!) and the next two hours, as you can imagine, went by swiftly with each of us taking turns laughing, screaming and even fighting over whose turn it was or how a certain someone always seemed to get lucky!

By the time the first game ended, we were hungry for more and followed it up with Scrabble. Both my husband and I love the game but we were sceptical about our little one managing on his own and asked him if he wanted to partner with either of us. But he stood his ground and he actually won the game! 

This was followed by more serious games like Chess and Checkers along with some more Chocos and milk; and it was only at the end of that day, that I realised how much I myself had missed the fun and excitement of these games. And more importantly, how much I had missed bonding with my little one over them! As we continued to play Uno, over dessert that night I vowed to make this bonding ritual a more common habit in my household.

Why not? You see, sooner or later, we all need to realise that no matter how important our other responsibilities may be; there is one thing that is the most important – making time for our family, for our children! And one of the best and the simplest ways I found to bond with mine is over board games.

Now that is my idea of giving a happy and memorable childhood to my little one ke khuljaye bachpan uska! What’s yours?

#KhuljayeBachpan