GUEST BLOG POST BY KATHY TOSOIAN:

Like most working mothers, I just never seemed to have enough time with my two children. Trying to balance work, with raising a family, keeping up with laundry, shopping, cleaning, cooking (the list is endless) was always a challenge. As with all working mothers, my biggest concern was for my children. I knew that the time with them had to be quality time well spent. I needed to maximize every moment we had together. Drive time seemed to be the best opportunity, since it seemed that a lot of time we spent together was in the car. I decided not to let the kids play with their video games, I turned off my cell phone (NOTHING was more important than my children – whoever it was could wait), and any other distractions. I had their full attention and they had mine (of course, I kept my eyes on the road)! So, we started playing quiz games. I would quiz them, they would quiz me. For fun, we kept score. “What is the capitol of Florida? Who was the first president of the USA? Annapolis is the capitol of what state? If I had $5 and bought a book for $3.75, how much change would I get back? Name five animals that are mammals.” It became so much fun for them (and for me) that they would race to the car so we could start playing our game. After school, they couldn’t wait to quiz me on information they had learned that day. I must say, some of their questions really stumped me! This was even be instrumental in building their self-esteem. We did this on road trip vacations, as well. Amazingly, they grew to become excellent students, with a high level of self-confidence. My son is now finishing his second year at Johns Hopkins Medical School and my daughter has her master’s degree from Northwestern University in Speech Pathology. I can’t say for sure that our family quiz games enabled them to be where they are in life, but I know it certainly didn’t hurt! Maximize YOUR time with your kids whenever you can.
They’re worth it!

Kathy Tosoian, Certified Office Dynamics Trainer/Speaker