Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Peace in the Process
    • Bringing Home More Than Groceries
  • Contact

How to have quality time with your kids

November 30, 2021 by Kristin Leave a Comment

I’m not much of a get-down-on-the-floor-and-play mom, but I still have quality time with my kids. Here are some ways that happens around here. 

Hang out in the kitchen together

Cook dinner or even try to bake together — you know us moms find ourselves in the kitchen often anyway. In 2020, when we were home so much more than we are now, my oldest, Cate, helped me with dinner almost every night. We’d chat or listen to music while we cooked for the rest of the family. My son doesn’t help in the kitchen as much, but he sure does love when I make a big breakfast of French toast and bacon or buttermilk pancakes with sausage. Honestly, I miss that slower time. 

Cooking for a full family may feel like a chore, but bringing others in helps me enjoy it more. Of course, my kids, especially my girls, may prefer to bake. Chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chip banana bread are our go-to baked goods around here, but maybe we’ll try these meringue cookies sometime. 

Remember the basics

I do quite a bit of online shopping. Ben and Rachel love to get out the Sharpies and make a rocket ship or house out of the big boxes. Sometimes we break apart the smaller boxes and they use the paint pens on them. Of course, anytime a simple activity is turned into a contest, they’re all in! Other simple toys like Perler beads and decks of cards can keep them entertained for hours too. 

Get outside

I’m not much into camping, but I do like to gather around our firepit for s’mores. Instead of getting just Hershey bars, get some other chocolate like Kit-Kat and Reese’s Cups to see which one makes the best s’more! During the summer, we spend much quality time around the pool and eating meals together on the porch. Weather permitting, we also love to ride or walk around our property together, sometimes making new discoveries about what grows and lives around here. 

Watch a show 

Another perk of older kids is finding a show everyone likes. Right now, that’s “Survivor” for us. Watching the reality show competition together gives us something to talk about. Plus, a couple of my kids love cuddling together on the couch. My son and I were feeling puny after recent COVID-19 vaccinations, so we started watching “Alone” together. One a day we didn’t feel like exerting much energy, the reality survival show gave us something to talk about. 

Play board games

We love game nights! That’s another thing I miss about the slower pace of 2020, but it’s still one of our go-to activities when we have a free evening together. I’ve put together a list of our favorite games, if you need some entertainment inspiration. 

Get tickets

One of my favorite Christmas gifts for Cate and Ben was tickets to see a TobyMac concert. Gifting experiences to concerts, sporting events, and theater shows is a great way to get some quality time on the calendar. I’ve also found when you get a kid somewhere that interests them, like a water park or science center, they tend to talk about whatever is happening plus whatever else is on their minds. It’s the same reason I’m glad two of my kids are old enough to sit in the front seat of the minivan with me! 

How do you spend quality time with your kids?

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: motherhood Tagged With: family, life, motherhood

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let’s Connect

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our high school girl who never forgets, our middle school boy who has no fear, and our joy-filled first-grade girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

Subscribe for Updates

Recent Posts

  • How to host a party
  • All the places she’ll go
  • Cruising for Spring Break
  • How to take care of yourself
  • How to recreate favorite foods

Join the Conversation

Join the Conversation

On Instagram

🎶 All throughout my history / Your faithfulness 🎶 All throughout my history / Your faithfulness has walked beside me / The winter storms made way for spring / In every season, from where I'm standing / I see the evidence of Your goodness / All over my life … 🎶 @joshbaldwin in “Evidence”

I love summer. But my summer has started off busy: appointments, book edits deadline, establish new habits with the kids at home. All that’s necessary and good, it just cuts into my down time beside the pool. 

Today we have two open gyms for our basketball players, my book study with a few friends, a new weekly high school girls’ book study at our house, and a monthly dad-son character study. 

I long for a little more white space on the calendar, but I also wouldn’t change a thing because the kids are only 16, 13, and 7 once. This summer will only be this summer once. And I’ve already learned time flies with big kids. 

So here we are finding out footing, singing praises with church friends on our porch, grilling delicious chicken, and squeezing in the wide-open spaces when we can. This is evidence of the good stuff. 

#84daysofsummer #poolpeople #momlife #momconfessions #faithlife #livingfaithfully #favoritethings #choosingJOY #countryliving #reallife #PorchStories
The Hill family reunion at @shelterpointretreat ha The Hill family reunion at @shelterpointretreat has become a favorite tradition to kick off summer! The weather was perfect and everyone enjoyed one another. 

#familyreunion #lakelife #kentuckylake #kylake #getoutside #familytime #memorialday #memorialdayweekend #favoritethings #84daysofsummer #summerisbest #choosingJOY
Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ #TeamTaylor #girl Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ 

#TeamTaylor #girlmom #boymom #momlife #reallife #summerisbest #siblinglove #countryliving #poolpeople #getoutside
First of all, who else has read this book? The plo First of all, who else has read this book? The plot was promising as a thriller and the setting really worked. There were some good twists, and then there were ridiculous twists. I skimmed the end only because I wanted it to make sense. And it didn’t. It was too weird for me. 

But this made me wonder: how do we know if a book is going to be weird, contain elements we don’t like, or go places that don’t make sense? I don’t like to read much about a book before I read the book. Usually, I do a better job of picking books for myself. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #donotrecommend #bookofthemonth @bookofthemonth
I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant we I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant weather, a mixture of productivity and rest, and had plenty of wide-open space to enjoy our property and each other. 

#weekending #TeamTaylor #poolpeople #countryliving #favoritethings #choosingJOY #maydays
And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watch And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watching them both play. 

#soccermom #weekending #springtime #momlife #girlmom #boymom
On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a book, but I didn’t know what I wanted to read. Whenever I have indecision about books, picking up a thriller usually helps because of the story’s pace. 

“The Only Survivors” worked well because there was a lot happening! Lots of creepy, mysterious moments. Only so many people could be guilty of infiltrating a small group who had lots of secrets! 

I loved the timeline of this one. The back story about an accident was told in seven one-hour segments. The present mystery was told in seven days. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #latergram #bookofthemonth @bookofthemonth #poolpeople #mothersday
Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ And Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ 

And when I say summer, I mean we are ready to shake up the routine, mentally regroup, turn off the alarms, establish some new habits, soak in the sun, and catch up with friends we’ve been crossing paths with too quickly. 

I want to savor the #84daysofsummer and I want to embrace this new season. And it’s almost time. Three more days of school. (Deep breaths.) 

Meanwhile, I’m going to keep collecting the moments — the hard, hurried, happy, and heartfelt. The seasons do change, but this is the life we are living. 

“The moments you collect may not be loud or flashy. They might be quiet or covered or a far-off view you were lucky to catch. But this I know to be true: A moment savored says to your soul, ‘You have lived something beautiful.’ And it keeps you buoyed. It sustains you when you’re running empty. It lifts you up and carries you forward.” — Joanna Gaines in @magnolia summer 2023 journal issue no. 27 

#momlife #reallife #momconfessions #livingfaithfully #summerisbest #teenagedriver #choosingJOY
I’ve read quite a few World War II novels, but t I’ve read quite a few World War II novels, but this one by Soraya M. Lane focused on three nurses, their friendships, and how the war changed their lives. It’s a hard story, but it’s full of love and hope despite the destruction around them. 

And it’s the second historical fiction audiobook I’ve listened to in a row! #KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #audiobooks #Audible #KindleUnlimited #historicalfiction
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Favorites

Categories

Archives

Copyright © 2023 Kristin Hill Taylor | Design by Traci Michele | Development by MRM