Dad, How Do You Define Quality Time?

Fathers are not normally associated with child rearing activities and there are some things that can change that belief. It is not how much time you spend with your children but the quality of time you spend with them.

It’s no surprise that with companies demanding more or parent’s time and paying less for that time, many moms and dads are becoming frustrated and guilty about no spending the kind of time they would like with their children. So what’s a dad to do? Get connected. The new wave of the future involves video-conferencing and it is proving that it can be a valuable parenting tool.

Today video-conferencing is quickly becoming the extraordinary all-around effort to assist dads in maintaining a loving relationship with their children, whether it involves his once-a-month trips to New York, or frequent short trips around the home state, videoconferencing is will quickly become a marvelous way to supplement dad’s effort to stay connected.

Older children will find video-conferencing offering them to opportunity to give more and get more from dad than is received by phone or email. You will need Broadband Internet access to make the hook-ups work well. Web cameras like Quickcam by Logitech sells from $49.99 to $99.99; and high end cams; i.e. like those for Sony offer a complete set-top video-conferencing unit, with lifelike images for the television screen for about $5000.

It is important to note that video-conferencing as a mode of communication with your children is currently operating on land that has yet to be charted. The research is still not in, but from the comments received from parents living and working out of state and out of the U.S. , it’s the next best thing to being there.

There is no doubt that video-conferencing will affect different children differently, and parents must watch closely to see what the experience means to their child, but as it stands today parent-child video-conferencing seems likely to grow.

As the technology improves, we may only be a few steps away for saying…”Beam me up Scotty!”

Detra D. Davis is a certified Parent Educator with the North Carolina Parent Network and has been a writer for over 25 years. Visit her website http://www.supportingourchildren.com, a membership site supporting parents, schools, parent organizations and support groups that encourage parent education and parent involvement.