It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day: running the kids to school, cleaning, changing diapers, etc and forget to take time to connect with your kids. I am 100% guilty of it, I may be with them, but there are days I feel guilty and wonder how present I was. I notice it 100% with Beckam, the days he’s whiny and crying I look back and realize I wasn’t taking time just to laugh and play with him. I did some research and psychologists suggest that kids need at least 10 minutes of connection time a day to feel loved.  That’s so small in comparison to the 12+ hours they are typically awake. Obviously more is better, but some days it seems like you don’t even have 10 minutes to breathe. So I’ve put together a list of eight easy ways we’ve found to connect with the kids. Let me preface by saying I don’t claim to be a parenting expert but hope to encourage you guys and create a conversation. I think we all want to be good parents so I would love to hear what easy ways work for you? I’m always looking for new ideas and ways to spend time with the kids.

Bedtime Rituals: We try to read stories to the kids every night before bed – I wish I could say we pull it off every night, but it just doesn’t happen. One thing we always do before bed while we cuddle them in is ask each kid the favorite part of their day and what they are looking forward to tomorrow. Getting their perspective on life is key to staying connected, even through something so simple.

Hide & Seek & Chase: B is just hitting that age where playing hide and seek / chase are the highlight of his day. I duck behind the sofa and he remembers all the obvious spots to look for me – he is always so excited when he finds me he screeches so loud and starts laughing like crazy. Mara and Wes love it too! It becomes a family game through out the house. I have to say its quickly become one of my favorite things to do with them.

Wrestling: Cody loves to wrestle with the kids and it’s a fun way to keep them active and help them release some pent up energy. 🙂 And the kids aren’t the only ones who can’t wait to play ‘rough’ with dad! Mio gets so excited he runs in circles around the couches when he realizes its wrestle-time.

Dance Party: B is fascinated by music videos and always dances along – his moves are contagious so they always end in an impromptu dance party. Sometimes Wes and Mara get a little shy, but B’s funny dance moves always bring the laughs and get the dance party going.

Hidden Notes: My step mom used to do this for me and it was something I always looked forward to as a kid. I like to tuck a note in Mara’s lunchbox on random days with her favorite sticker for school.

Disconnect: Your phone, thats it. It’s hard to connect with the kids before you disconnect from the rest of the world, so put your phone down. This is one of the simplest but also most important things we can do.

Cuddle: You can never give your kids too many hugs or kisses. I am a huge cuddler and love movie nights with the kids when we all pile on the couch and watch their favorite shows. They always want their back tickled or arm tickled and it’s the moments I know won’t last for long so I try and savor them.

Get Outside: Whatever your schedule, find ways to get outdoors for at least 10 minutes a day. We try to move some of our daily habits outside, everything from a daily chat and games of tag, to sitting on our patio at sunset with our bedtime snack.

Shopping: Shopping with kids can always be challenging especially if there is more than one child with you, but once in a while we make it a family event. I like to find a store that caters to the whole family and let the kids pick out one of their favorite item. We usually set a dollar amount so they don’t over-indulge 🙂 Letting them explore their own tastes and interests is almost as fun as watching their tastes develop.

Today I have partnered with LemonPop to share some great (and affordable) finds for the whole family. I’m excited to share that they are expanding their current locations (Azalea shopping center in CA and Rockland Plaza in NY) to 2 new locations in New Jersey. Their Ellisburg Shopping Center will celebrate its grand opening this weekend and the Mercer Mall location will be opening May 22nd.

You can follow along on the launch of the new LemonPop locations and their new family collections at @shoplemonpop and facebook.com/shoplemonpop.

XOX,