{"id":524,"date":"2015-01-08T10:20:21","date_gmt":"2015-01-08T10:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/?p=524"},"modified":"2015-01-08T10:20:21","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T10:20:21","slug":"taking-time-with-your-kids-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/01\/taking-time-with-your-kids-now.html","title":{"rendered":"Taking Time With Your Kids Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bigstock<\/a>
Bigstock Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Everyone has likely been given advice to \u201clive in the moment\u201d and worry about the future when it becomes the present. The challenge for many people is that they\u2019ve also been told they have to plan for the future that they\u2019re supposed to be unconcerned for.<\/p>\n

Is it possible to do both? Not worrying and being prepared seem like opposites and doing both seems like a paradox.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important for a parent to plan for the future. You obviously want to know that your bills are taken care of and that your family is okay. For many parents, this also includes putting money away for the kids\u2019 futures. You may be saving for private school, college education, a wedding, or all of the above. On top of that, you may worry about what will happen to your kids if you suddenly weren\u2019t there to take care of them.<\/p>\n

The problem with planning for the future is that time goes by very quickly. If you spend the majority of your time being responsible and taking care of the kids without being fully present in your day to day moments, you may wake up one day and realize that your life and the lives of your kids have passed without enjoyment.<\/p>\n

Remember the song, Cat\u2019s in the Cradle by Harry Chapin? It tells the story of a father and son. It starts at the birth of the child, and continues through the boy\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

The little boy adores his father and just wants two things: to spend time with him and to be just like him. And he does.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve long since retired, my son’s moved away
\nI called him up just the other day
\nI said, \u201cI\u2019d like to see you if you don’t mind,\u201d
\nHe said, \u201cI\u2019d love to, Dad, if I can find the time.
\n\u201cYou see, my new job’s a hassle and kids have the flu,
\nBut it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad.
\nIt’s been sure nice talking to you”<\/p>\n

This poignant song from the 1970\u2019s can remind you of the importance of taking the time with your kids now, the song reflecting opportunities missed. This doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t have a life outside family time with your own passions and interests. Once in a while you may miss your child\u2019s soccer game.<\/p>\n

It means you learn to have balance in your life. Yes, plan for the future, but live today as if the future may never come.<\/p>\n

How do you make this balance work when you feel like you\u2019re being torn apart by conflicting priorities? The best way is to tap into your Internal Guidance System (IGS). It will help you know what\u2019s truly important to you by guiding you through what you\u2019re feeling toward any given situation.<\/p>\n

This may be very different from what is important to your boss, your parents, your spouse, and even your kids.
\nThere will be times when you feel guided to follow a career path that temporarily takes more time away from your family. Conversely, you may feel guided to turn down a job opportunity because the timing for you and your family isn\u2019t right.<\/p>\n

Your IGS will steer you in the right direction, allowing you to live your life to the fullest and be happy when your son or daughter grows up with happy memories of time spent together.<\/p>\n

Please feel free to comment.
\n\u00a9 2015. Sharon Ballantine. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone has likely been given advice to \u201clive in the moment\u201d and worry about the future when it becomes the present. The challenge for many people is that they\u2019ve also been told they have to plan for the future that they\u2019re supposed to be unconcerned for. Is it possible to do both? Not worrying and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":569,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTaking Time With Your Kids Now - Parenting on Purpose<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking Time With Your Kids Now - Parenting on Purpose\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Everyone has likely been given advice to \u201clive in the moment\u201d and worry about the future when it becomes the present. The challenge for many people is that they\u2019ve also been told they have to plan for the future that they\u2019re supposed to be unconcerned for. Is it possible to do both? Not worrying and…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/01\/taking-time-with-your-kids-now.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Parenting on Purpose\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-08T10:20:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/files\/2015\/01\/mom_playing_with_kids.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"srballantine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Taking Time With Your Kids Now - Parenting on Purpose","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Taking Time With Your Kids Now - Parenting on Purpose","og_description":"Everyone has likely been given advice to \u201clive in the moment\u201d and worry about the future when it becomes the present. The challenge for many people is that they\u2019ve also been told they have to plan for the future that they\u2019re supposed to be unconcerned for. Is it possible to do both? Not worrying and…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/01\/taking-time-with-your-kids-now.html","og_site_name":"Parenting on Purpose","article_published_time":"2015-01-08T10:20:21+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/files\/2015\/01\/mom_playing_with_kids.jpg"}],"author":"srballantine","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/01\/taking-time-with-your-kids-now.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/01\/taking-time-with-your-kids-now.html","name":"Taking Time With Your Kids Now - Parenting on Purpose","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/01\/taking-time-with-your-kids-now.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/01\/taking-time-with-your-kids-now.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/files\/2015\/01\/mom_playing_with_kids.jpg","datePublished":"2015-01-08T10:20:21+00:00","dateModified":"2015-01-08T10:20:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/#\/schema\/person\/a85d0fac5176f3ce8e80c2b1c95e93cb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/01\/taking-time-with-your-kids-now.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/01\/taking-time-with-your-kids-now.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/01\/taking-time-with-your-kids-now.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/files\/2015\/01\/mom_playing_with_kids.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/files\/2015\/01\/mom_playing_with_kids.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/01\/taking-time-with-your-kids-now.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Taking Time With Your Kids Now"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/","name":"Parenting on Purpose","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Sharon Ballantine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/#\/schema\/person\/a85d0fac5176f3ce8e80c2b1c95e93cb","name":"srballantine","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/author\/srballantine"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/569"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":526,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524\/revisions\/526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}