What do you do during your quality time with the children? There are various possibilities. You can plan an activity. This is good for Dads who are unsure of what to do. Get a book on parent effectiveness training or another self-help book or guide for advice.

Others like to let things develop naturally. They know how to share a good time and to make a good time with others and can help their children have a good time. Still others might say, “A good time? My job is to be an educator. I want to help my children learn things material for school or perhaps to learn some of my experiences in life so that they will not make my mistakes over again.”

Other parents have still other ideas. Another option is to create an atmosphere in which your child has the opportunity to best use the quality time.

In other words, these parents might let the child take over and lead the meetings. Other parents may choose to give the children more of an opportunity, and they might let them run the show most of the time. No formula is preferred. It depends upon the relationship between the parents, the parents’ inner structure, and the child.

This triangle will determine the percentage of the time that children will run the show during quality time meetings. The children can be allowed to run the show on an ad hoc basis, or in a more structured manner. In the latter case, the parents may ask the children to prepare something for discussion or he may leisurely ask the child what happened to him that day, how he is managing with his friends, what the friends are talking about, or any other topic that may be of interest to the child.