January 16th, 2025
While the holidays are a busy time, they are also a time where families are likely to feel the most connected. I know the joke is that the holidays are the time of year when you’re most likely to see people that you’re happy about not seeing again for another year, but it’s also the time of year that you’re more likely to see people that you have been wanting to interact with. Not only did kids have off from school, but some parents had time off work. Parents likely spent more time with their kids than they normally do at any other time of year (aside from summer).
So what can happen in those first few weeks of January is a sense of being adrift: parents go back to work, kids go back to school, and we all get caught in the whirlwind of the status quo. These are the months that can really drag, when the holidays are all dried up and summer break (at least from a kid’s perspective) feels like centuries away.
What I believe to be important during the new year is to put in the effort of maintaining closeness. Even the strongest of relationships need effort invested into them to remain strong, and the same applies to parents and their kids. Remember, it’s possible to become strangers in your own home. Especially in this tech age where we’re all (and I do mean all, not just the kids) plugged in. With that being said, I think one of the most important New Year’s resolutions for a parent is to go the extra mile to make sure that holiday spark doesn’t die just because our calendars turn over.
Aside from the new year, this topic can also be applied to other off-seasons, like Spring Break, vacations, or getting into the swing of a new school year after summer.
Read on for tips on how you can maintain this bond and continuously nurture it.
Bond Activity 1: Create a Designated Parent-Child Activity
One of the best ways to maintain a bond is to prioritize consistency. This means setting a designated parent-child activity. The reason why this matters is because whole weeks and months can go by without any parent-child activities ever occurring. Kids get caught in a school-homework cycle and parents get caught in a work cycle. Allocating time on a specific day to do a specific activity avoids that vicious cycle. This is done preferably one day per week at least, and is even relevant to parents of non-school-age children. For instance, even if your child isn’t in school, it’s possible to become disconnected from them if they spend most of their time in daycare or at grandma’s house, and so it’s important to make bonding time a priority.
The schedule can look something like this: Every Saturday morning from 10am-12pm is gardening time with the kids. Having something like this as a weekly slot can greatly improve parent-child relationships. Not only does this create space for kids to disconnect from school and parents to disconnect from work, it allows time for parents to simply communicate with their child, to educate them on a particular topic, and to learn more about their child’s growing personality.
These weekly slots can vary greatly depending upon which day you choose, the time slot, and the activity. The activities can shift from week to week, or stay the same every time. You can choose activities your child already likes or pick something new that will give them a healthy challenge. These activities can also change depending upon the season or your child’s shifting interests. As you can see, this weekly activity time is as diverse as your household is.
Bond Activity 2: Plan for the Summer
Another step you can take to maintain the post-holiday energy with your child is to create a summer break plan (if you’re reading this and it’s not already mid- or post-summer). For some parents, you may already have a fairly clear idea of what you will do once your school-age child goes on summer break. Other parents have absolutely no idea how they’re going to survive those two and a half months. With this step, you can help yourself but also bring your child along for the ride.
With your budget in mind (and other important factors like your child’s age and level of ability, etc.), sit down with your child and research places in your area that offer summer camps or activities. While your child obviously won’t be the final say in what happens during summer break, allow them to share their opinions on what they like and don’t like. During my school-age years, I did archery camp, gymnastics camp, karate, and pottery camp, among other activities. Some of these activities might sound appealing to some kids while others don’t (I thoroughly didn’t enjoy karate but still have some pottery I made in the fifth grade with me today). Take out paper and pencils and have your child write down potential summer camp places or ideas. This allows them to have fun while also doing a little bit of work for you. Make a fun evening out of this research session, or extend it into multiple sessions. Of course, you’ll likely need time away from your child at some point to crunch the numbers of the cost of summer activities with yourself or your partner, but in the meantime, try to take something stressful and make it more fun.
You could also talk to your child about their friends, because if you know their friends then you could get to know their parents, which could be the start of a parent-to-parent bond that leads to certain other summer activities they knew about that you didn’t (or, you know, just a sleepover). Talking with neighbors or getting connected anywhere you go (like PTA or church) can also generate good ideas to help the upcoming summer feel less intimidating. Because trust me, even though it’s only just now January, summer break will creep up just as fast as the holidays did.
Bond Activity 3: Reading Time
For the parents who don’t even like reading, this one might be tough. But reading, even if it’s not a hobby of yours, is very important for literacy. For children who are just learning how to read, but even for older children and adults to maintain that literacy. Those who read throughout their lives stay sharp, and I assume most parents desire for their kids to be smart. What can happen with kids is that they can grow a negative outlook on reading because they always associate it with school and essays and icky things. Encouraging them to read outside of school can avoid that disgust developing in them.
After finding age-appropriate books, you can create a rhythm, such as reading to them every night or every other night. For older kids who likely wouldn’t appreciate being read to anymore, give them age-appropriate books and encourage them to read on their own. Setting up strict parameters (like “I want you to read this book in a month”) can deter complacency but can also just feel like an at-home version of school, which could make them hate reading twice as much. So use your best judgement as a parent to determine whether any boundaries should be set up.
With the literacy of younger generations on the decline and the phenomenon of seven-year-old phone addicts, prioritizing reading is more important now than ever to ensure your child grows into a well-read adult.
Bond Activity 4: Sports
This isn’t easy for me to say, because I never was a sports fanatic, but even I have to admit that the positive physical and mental impact sports has on kids is undeniable. It teaches kids how to grow a thicker skin to losing, to handle pride effectively with winning, to be self-controled, and, most obviously, instills in them an interest in getting out and being active (which is important for us all).
Of course, finding the right sport can be tricky. You may put your kid into a few sports and they may hate them all. As a kid, I tried gymnastics, soccer, volleyball, and karate, and didn’t like any of them. I shot my first bow at thirteen and still own a bow eleven years later (although I don’t shoot as much as I used to). It took me trial and error, but archery became one of the only sports I took a liking to.
I understand that some kids have more of an affinity for staying indoors and not exercising and it can be hard to get those kids in gear, but I do strongly believe in the power of movement. For children who loathe the outdoors, you could try indoor-friendly activities, like yoga, pilates, or even movement-based video games like Just Dance. With budget constraints in mind, there are a myriad of activities to choose from, including dance, weightlifting, tennis, soccer, volleyball, and far too many other sports to name. I believe that there’s at least one thing in this world your child will like. Research into signing them up over the summer or the fall (since spring signups are likely closed at this point).
Author Bio Krista Ruffo, born and raised in Orlando, Florida, began blogging with South Project in February of 2025. She’s a University of Central Florida graduate with a BA in English and a Certificate in Editing and Publishing. A passionate writer and reader, Krista aspires to work in book publishing in the future. She currently works as a Content Coordinator for a family magazine and as a Marketing Representative for a water company. In her free time, she enjoys creative writing, taking photos, hiking, and gardening.