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Quality Time with Your Kids as a Single Parent
Description
This week we're discussing Quality Time with Your Kids as a Single Parent
You were there. Physically on the floor, in the room, at the table. And yet somewhere between the Legos and the dinner cleanup, you realized your mind had been somewhere else the entire time. That feeling, of showing up but not quite arriving, is one of the hardest parts of solo parenting to talk about because it carries so much guilt with it.
Robert Beeson, Founder and CEO of Solo Parent, sits down with Elizabeth Cole, single parent and co-host, and Amber Fuller, a counselor with a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy (MMFT) and single parent, to get honest about why real connection with your kids can feel so hard to access, and what it actually takes to close that gap without overhauling your life.
This conversation names the pressures most solo parents feel but rarely say out loud. Feeling physically present with your kids but emotionally somewhere else entirely, and not knowing how to fix it. Believing quality time has to look a certain way, and carrying the weight of falling short of that picture. Not knowing how to build genuine connection when your schedule, your energy, and your emotional reserves are all running low. If any of that sounds familiar, this one is worth your time.
Key Insights from This Episode:
- Emotional capacity, not a packed schedule, is what gets in the way of real presence. The emotional weight of solo parenting can quietly drain the reserves you need to actually show up for your kids.
- Quality time isn't about the activity, it's about your kids knowing they matter to you. When your children feel seen, safe, and loved, that connection becomes the secure base they spring from into the rest of their lives.
- Micro moments and small rituals already inside your routine are enough. You don't need a bigger schedule or a better plan; you need to recognize the connection opportunities you're already walking past every day.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
- CNBC Article: I've studies over 200 kids - the happiest ones have parents who do 9 things with them every morning
- Chip Dodd: Concept of "home base" can be found in his book "Voice of the Heart"
- Dan Siegel: The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child
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