Secondly, working parents are obviously busier. Working routines today are less stable whereby more flexible arrangements are becoming more popular. Flexibility may not necessarily mean shorter hours, but it may well mean that you work more to finish the job. Some day I will write a full blog on working hours, but today I need to focus! This flexibility impinges on the quantity of time we spend with our children. I know that as you read, you will probably argue that we complement our lack of quantity with an improved quality. In fact, many of us quote quality over quantity debate. Again I agree, to an extent. Whilst I do not believe that a lot of time with a child doing stuff which do nothing to positively stimulate the child is desirable, however assigning a few hours per week of undivided attention is what we are after too. Your kids will get the drift that they are just going to get a small fraction of your time. Trust me, they notice. Some existentialists, and to be honest many of us who do not call themselves anything, feel that balance is what we need. So we need good quality engagement, for a good quantity of time. Remember our interactions with our children form the very basis of their attachment styles. If we are not attractive attachment figures, the children may develop negative styles that will afflict their adult relationships.

– Steve Libreri is a social worker and parent coach within Willingness. He offers parent coaching and social work sessions. He can be contacted on steve@willingness.com.mt.