You have it right but I don't think that one on one, parent child time, always has to be play. It does get harder when the kids get busier as well as the parents trying to get some time for themselves.

Some of our best parent/child times come from doing ordinary things together.

When one of the boys took a fascination with watching Daddy shave, it soon became their special time each morning. Daddy would call him and say shave time and the two of them would enjoy a short time "helping" each other shave. Boy would watch Daddy and point where to go next and end up by doing a quick finishing sweep and then Daddy would do a quick run over boy's face, of course this was all done with an electric razor. It soon became one of the fun things each day. It soon turned into showering together as boy stood in the shower also and gradually learned how to shower himself.

Another great bonding has been taking it in turns to take the trash out with Daddy. Daddy puts small child on top of the cans as they are rolled out to the curb.

I have done similar things with household and personal chores. Laundry folding has been a fun parent child bonding. Child gets to match socks and sort and fold underwear into each family member's pile and then put them in the right storage place in each room. Cooking and preparing meals where I need a helper to get things in and out of refrigerator and pantry and onto table or counter. Deciding which 3 vegetables to put into a salad with the greenery, whether to cut sandwiches into triangles or squares, and many other food preparation decisions are often left to my helper to decide.

Yes of course playing together is fun but so many activities can become special activities. Chores are only chores if there is an attitude of making them boring or difficult. Making them fun even if they take longer hopefully will make them less onerous and much easier to get the kids to do them all by themselves at some stage in the future.

Mother of 4 - Thanks for sharing. Yes, as a kid I remember spending a lot of time with my grandparents and parents while they completed chores. It was interesting to see how they spent their time. And, most of the time, the chores were simple enough that we could chat while completing them.