I’m sure right now you’re thinking, “uh huh?”. I hope you feel as intrigued as I was when I recently heard about your child’s most important nine minutes of their day. I had never realized this concept at all before, but I love it, and have already begun paying careful attention to these particular times of my child’s day.
These 9 minutes are the three times of the day where we need to give our child the most undivided attention and really make it the greatest, most meaningful moment for our children. The nine minutes are split up as follows:
- the first three minutes of their day-right after they wake up
- the three minutes after they come home from daycare or school
- the last three minutes of the day–right before they go to bed.
Did you know this? Kudos to you if you have. Granted, I understand that there are mornings where we are running behind schedule and/or our kids can be a bit stubborn to get out of bed to begin with, however, despite the need to rush, try to make those first three minutes special and enjoyable for 
your child. (Yes, this does include those of you who are not ‘morning people’!) Wake up a couple minutes earlier to make those first 3 minutes as substantial as possible- that is, if you can, since this does depend on who wakes up who first! Try tickling your child out of bed, shower them with kisses and hugs while acting silly (I add the use of stuffed animals) if you’d like to! Keep in mind, if you have multiple children, this could take a while, plan accordingly. Starting the day off to a good start does have an essential impact on how your child’s day may go.
Remember back when you came from home school or any time when you were away from your parents and all you wanted to do was spend time with them? The same goes for your child! As soon as you pick them up from daycare or they come home from school, get those additional three minutes with them! Hug’em, cuddle’em, rough-house with them, anything creative! Even if it’s hugging each and every one of your children, and asking each one how their day went/ what the best part of their day was. These are your precious, devoted three minutes to have with them. Perhaps your evening will go better with a happier child? You might be surprised with how better off kids may be after this becomes your daily routine.
“Children don’t say, ‘I had a hard day’, they say, ‘Can you play with me?’ “. -Lawrence Cohen, Playful Parenting
The final three minutes? The last three of their long day…make these minutes count. They may remember this time more than the others, as they will be just lying in their bed after you say goodnight while trying to fall asleep. Keep in mind, again, you may have to start the night time routine a little sooner to get these precious minutes in with each child! Bedtime stories, silly games or routines, g
ently massaging them or slowly rubbing their backs until they’re half asleep, or even cuddling with them can be so valuable for our kids. Ofcourse, follow all of this up with your usual terms of endearment and love. (careful you don’t fall asleep either while doing some of these! I know for certain, I’m fairly tired by the end of the day!)
There you have it. Your child’s most important nine minutes. I will also share with you a podcast from Power of Moms. This mini-podcast also includes other very simple and effective parenting techniques such as having one meaningful, eye-to-eye conversation with your child each day, and also about the 8 touches a day children need from their parents. Interesting, effective, and super easy stuff here!
