Child-centered activities are great fun for kids, but if that’s all you do with them, you might be detaching them from reality.^[1] Don’t treat them like VIPs in your life that you are only looking to please and distract.

If you find yourself wondering “How am I going to get through Saturday with Jane?”, all you need to do is modify the stuff you already do so that your children can help out. Even if they are not really helping at first, it’s often comical and makes them feel included. Over time they will learn and become truly helpful. Don’t give up.

---

1. In the months leading up to becoming a father, I received conflicting advice about how to keep kids entertained. An article published on The Atlantic entitled “There’s a Better Way to Parent: Less Yelling, Less Praise” helped me gain a foothold and reaffirm some things I had been learning from other parents and books. ↩︎