11 Ways to Build Stronger Mother-Child Relationships
As a mom of six, balancing my time between my children can be a challenge from time to time. Working to build stronger mother-child relationships with my kids is crucial, so I prioritize it. Children crave strong relationships with the adults in their lives. This is how they learn to navigate life and gain essential skills to succeed.
In today’s post, I’ll share 11 ways to build stronger mother-child relationships with your children and why strengthening these bonds is so important.
Building strong mother-child relationships does not have to be complicated, but nourishing the relationship will take time and effort.
God called you to this role for a reason, and I hope today’s post will help encourage you and remind you what an incredible honor it is. No one can nurture, provide for, or care for your children the way you can, and you should feel incredibly proud that you were trusted in this role.
If you’re new to my blog, hi! I am so glad you’re here. I’m Michaela. Mom of six wild and incredible children, including one who has fought cancer for over half his life. I share about our journey, motherhood, and non-toxic living. I hope you’ll stick around and find exactly what you’re looking for.
Here are some of my most recent posts:
How to Support Siblings of Children with Childhood Cancer
Encouragement for Overwhelmed Moms
And here’s what we’ll cover today:
How can I build stronger mother-child relationships with my children?
Activities to encourage stronger mother-child relationships
Creating healthy parent-child relationships
Benefits of strengthening parent-child relationships
How can I build stronger mother-child relationships with my kids?
Any time you spend quality time with your children, you can build a stronger mother-child relationship. This can be through conversations, checking in with them about school or friends, or asking them about their goals. Building a stronger bond does not require elaborate parties, trips, or spending money. Finding activities that allow you and your child to talk and build positive connections often is key. Activities such as playing a board game, reading, or going for a walk can all encourage a change to build stronger mother-child relationships. Please don’t get hung up on the activity itself; focus on how much you can connect with your children.
Here are 11 Ways to Build Stronger Mother-Child Relationships!
Activities to build stronger mother-child relationships
The activities listed below are simple but encourage an opportunity to connect with your child in different ways. Some activities will work better than others, but test a few to see what connects you and your child best.
Playing a game together
We try to play a board game as a family at least once a week. It encourages us to sit as a family, talk about recent life events, and have fun without screen time. Even our older children still enjoy when we pull out a board game and play together. They see it as game time, but they open up about their day or recent events, and we connect.
Our weekly family game night is a favorite!
Baking
My oldest daughter has shown a genuine interest in baking. It gives her a sense of responsibility to make something from scratch and watch over it as it bakes. It’s allowed her to earn more independence and gives us a chance to connect while also learning a valuable skill.
Shopping
I like to take one kid each week to go grocery shopping. It might not seem very exciting, but it allows us to spend time together alone. They can help pick ingredients and snacks for the week, and we have a chance to catch up and strengthen our relationship. Building stronger parent-child relationships does not require a special outing or situation. It can be as simple as grocery shopping together and allowing the conversation to head wherever needed.
Taking a pottery or other art class
When we want to do something more special for one of our kids, we love using activities that force us to work with our hands. Our daughters love art, painting, clay, etc., while our sons enjoy working on a car, working in the workshop with my husband, or playing sports. We use this to our advantage and plan activities based on what they most enjoy that will allow us to do something fun and provide time for them to connect.
Physical affection
This one is quickly overlooked, and it’s so sad! Even older children need physical affection. Make sure you hug your kids daily, showing them through your actions how much you love them. Not all children respond the same way or to the same love language, but showing affection is crucial. It’s actually been proven that children who do not receive enough physical affection have weakened immune systems. Physical touch promotes the development of a young child’s physiological system, including regulating emotions and stress. (You can read more about the study here.)
Family traditions
Including children in the planning of family traditions is a fantastic way to build a stronger mother-child relationship. Let them help plan the traditions you have established. For example, if it’s a special meal around a holiday, let them help shop and prepare food; if you have a gift exchange, let them plan the logistics, etc. Whatever it may be, include them and allow them to feel responsible for part of the planning. It will give you a chance to connect and talk and show them you trust that they are capable of helping.
One of our family traditions includes matching Christmas Jammies.
Read together!
My younger daughters look forward to our reading time every single day. We’ve made it part of our routine after dinner to help them wind down, and it’s been so wonderful to watch how excited they are to pick a book and help read sight words. It encourages them to read more and allows us to connect with them before our bedtime routine.
Mealtime
I cannot stress enough how important it is to sit together as a family and have a meal as often as you possibly can. No distractions, no electronics, sit together, talk, and enjoy a meal as a family. We love to ask each of the kids what their favorite part of the day was, what their assignments looked like today in school, and what they’re looking forward to for the rest of the week. We don’t get to do it every night as my husband works late some days, but we work hard to ensure we sit down for meals together as often as we can handle. It is so important to make this a priority, and I encourage you to do what you can to make it happen in your own home.
Phone-free time to help build stronger mother-child relationships
Phone-free family time every day is crucial. We rely on our phones far too much, distracting us from spending time together as a family. We are given such a short amount of time with our children under our roof in the grand scheme of things, and we want to spend as much time with them as possible without distractions. This is why we homeschool, encourage time together as a family, and work hard to be together as much as possible.
Bedtime routine
Our bedtime routine starts with showers, brushing our teeth, and checking chores after dinner. We’ll read a book together, play, and head to each kid’s bedroom to sit for a few minutes, talk, tuck them in, and say goodnight. It gives us one last chance to connect with our kids, give them our attention, and strengthen that bond we’re always working hard to improve.
Quality, uninterrupted time together
We try to spend time with our children individually in addition to spending time as a family. This allows them to open up to us without the distraction of other siblings listening to their conversations. They deserve undivided attention from both of us. They have different relationships with us as their parents, which isn’t bad, but giving them quality time with one of us also allows them to improve their relationships with us.
Creating healthy parent-child relationships
This won’t happen overnight. Encouraging and strengthening parent-child relationships takes patience, time, and effort. It’s worth it every time they know they can come to you about something important or share something that may be difficult to open up about. Building that bond, that trust will last into adulthood and encourage them to come back for advice, to spend time together, and to share their lives with you. Work to strengthen those bonds now so you can enjoy the benefits for the rest of your life with your children.
Benefits of strengthening parent-child relationships
I mentioned this a little bit, but the benefits are endless. Closeness with your children, trust, love, understanding.
My mom is my best friend. As a kid, I had a solid relationship with her. I naturally gravitated towards her and spent much of my life enjoying my friendship with her beyond our relationship as mother and daughter. We have had difficult moments, but I still check in with her, want her advice, and talk with her at least a few times a week. I am grateful for our relationship, which has changed over the years into a friendship, and I hope I am doing things every day to encourage that same bond with my children.
Conclusion
Building stronger mother-child relationships takes effort. It won’t happen instantly simply because you want to be closer to your children. It will take patience, trial and error, opening up even when difficult, and working daily to change habits that could hinder your relationship with your children. Every time they come to you with an issue, seek your advice, or choose to spend time with you over doing other things, it is worth it. Remember that when things seem difficult.
I hope this post has encouraged you to work on your relationship with your children and strengthen your bond. I am so glad you’re here! Please remember to share this post with a friend and pin it to your favorite board on Pinterest.
Until next time,
M
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