What is the meaning of quality time?
It can be joining them in their games, it can be listening to their stories and feeling in their own voices. It might be playing with them outside, it also might be taking story books suitable for them and tell stories in interesting manner. Working with them with colors, papers, water, sand, soil, leaves etc. can be effective as well. Planting trees, making something out of mud, washing clothes with them, cleaning house in interesting ways can be mentioned too. Travel with them because through travelling, a lot of practical experiences can be achieved and it develops a mindset to adapt many different situations. Do all the above things regularly as per your capability. These are just a few ideas, hopefully many of you do other things with your children already. There are some busy parents who provide different toys to their children. Some might be good toys, and some are not suitable for them at all. But instead of making a toy heaven for them, you can play with them with a few toys by making stories with those toys. These little humans love such pretending games. In summary, the caregivers are requested to spend time with the children, be generous to them, talk to them more, tell them childhood stories and listen to them with full attention. Don’t fill your place with money and gifts or by someone else. Those who have read this article who are not the parents, but are the relatives of a child, you are also requested to give them quality time. Don’t think this is just a tiny ‘tips & tricks’ article for the parents. Muslim parents, keep in mind that Allah warned “O you, who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from the Fire whose fuel is people and stones…” [Qur’an, 66:6]
On a similar topic, Muhammad (PBUH) mentioned “Take care! Each of you is a shepherd and each of you shall be asked concerning his flock; a leader is a shepherd of his people, and he shall be asked concerning his flock; and a man is a shepherd of the people of his house, and he shall be asked concerning his flock; and a woman is a shepherd of the house of her husband and over their children, and she shall be asked concerning them.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
