Is it important to have time with your family and kids? How do you spend your spare time with your family?

Finding opportunities to be with my children and sharing my thoughts and experiences was best. It was watching a movie, watching a TV show, eating dinner, going to the park or taking a vacation. Our best moments were the simplest moments. Also I sang to them - yes I sang fun songs and they will remember them forever. I did not sing well at all ^_^ but i did sing.

As they got older it was different. They began to pursue their own activities and as a parent I became the cheerleader and counselor. I cheered them on and supported them when they fell. It is a different kind of role but one I cherished. During this time I found dinners to be the best time to talk. It is also a time where I gave advice and sometimes had to be quiet and let them figure things out on their own.

The phase I am in now is having adult children -- 21, 24, and 26 years old. That feels the hardest of all as I still am the cheerleader and supporter but in a less frequent way. I have to let them go so they live their own lives. I watch and trust they will do well. I still sometimes have the opportunity to pick them up when they trip and fall but it is infrequent and somehow not the same.

My only advice is to spend as much time as you can with them and continually let them learn and work their way to independence.