As babies grow older and become a bit more self-sufficient in their play, it’s easy to let household chores and other small details about the house prevent you from actually sitting and playing with your child. Often, the games and toys of a young toddler aren’t particularity exciting to adults, so it’s with some relief you work around your child while he plays.

While this is normal and even healthy for children to learn to play independently, it’s also important to stop what you’re doing and give your child your undivided attention for long stretches of time. If sitting around the house playing his games gets a bit tedious, break up your time together by sitting down to play computer games together or taking a walk outside to check on what nature has to offer.

It doesn’t matter what you do together so long as your child has an opportunity to have your undivided attention for a spell. Let him pick the activities or at least give his permission before changing from one game to another. This way, he knows that he is still your number one and you can end every evening without worry or fear that you didn’t do enough to make him feel special that day.

The bond between a father and son is very special indeed. Even stepping outside the clichés of throwing the baseball or football in the backyard, the bond between generations of males is one to be developed and strengthened. How you do this in your family is more closely related to your background, culture and hobbies than anything the media might portray.

Be His First Teacher
As the father of a boy, you are his first teacher. For the first years of his life, your son might have preferred his mother for cuddling and soothing, but when it’s time for play, he knew where to turn. Use that special, fun relationship as the basis for instruction. Teach him everything you know about everything, realizing that the lessons can’t be taught in a week, but over years together. It’s never too early to lay a foundation.

Be His Leader
Boys are pack animals, and until the more volatile teenage years, you will be his primary role model – whether you want to be or not. Even as a teenager, he will always look to you for silent guidance in what you say and do. Act the way you want your son to act, and don’t bother trying to tell him to act any differently than you do. You’re his hero after all.

When a child has siblings, he stands to gain much in exchange for learning to share his favorite toys. In fact learning to share and problem solve is one of the most critical lessons children learn from siblings. Studies concerning families with multiple children have been ongoing over the decades, and many of the results are surprising only to those who didn’t grow up with siblings themselves.

A child can thank his siblings for:

• Helping him adjust and cope to new situations with less anxiety and stress.
• Teaching him to take risks and how to mitigate those risks on his own.
• Giving him the opportunity to find his own space and inner drive.
• Being there to watch over him – even when they don’t want to.
• Helping him gain an extra sense of responsibility.
• Performing better on tests and in many different academic areas.
• Keeping him healthy – one in ten only children develops asthma; for children with siblings, only one in two hundred will develop the breathing condition.
• Divorcing less as an adult – children with siblings have a more innate understanding of the opposite sex and how to work to get along.
• Being a willing or unwilling confidant to all the puzzles of growing up.

Every couple should plan for time together during the week. How you arrange your date night is up to you, but regardless of the details, time together is essential to maintaining the relationship that is the backbone of your entire family.

• Let baby spend the night with her grandparents once a week or once every other week. Use this night off to get caught up and enjoy each other’s company without midnight feedings and the presence of a sleeping baby in the next room.

• Head out for an evening and invite a close family friend or family member over to watch over your little one. Many babies have early bedtimes, so you might be able to put baby to bed and then head out for dinner and drinks without her realizing you were ever gone.

• Put your baby to bed and then pull out a movie and order a pizza. There is no rule saying date night has to be away from home – so long as you are away from the stress and distractions of the day, you can enjoy each other’s company and reconnect with your little one sleeping just a few rooms away.