Five ways to include your children into your social life

Keeping a balance between work, marriage, running a home and kids is no easy fete. It takes a lot of energy and time to dedicate to each.

If you find yourself struggling to find ways to stay connected with your own friends while juggling a fully packed schedule, the trick is to get creative with how you’re spending your time.

While it may sound easy on paper, it actually is achievable and attainable.

To help you keep everyone in your life happy and attended to especially the young ones, here are five ways you can include them in your social life.

Catch up with your friends over a cup of coffee in a kid friendly outlet where the moms will have time to catchup and the kids will get to play with each other. Alternatively, this can be a weekend thing where moms rotate houses to visit along with their kids. Kids will get to socialize and learn how to share their toys and homes with others.

Commit a couple of Fridays or Saturdays in a month for watching movies with a group of friends. Have the kids select a movie and as they unwind in front of the TV the grown ups can be chatting away in a different room. This will guarantee you at least 90 minutes or more of adult talk time. Keep the snacks light so the next parent hosting doesn’t feel pressured or overwhelmed when it’s their turn.

You don’t really have to think hard on how you can spend time with your friends and kids at the same time. A really fun way to do that is over food. Get your close friends together and plan regular eat outs where the kids can also let lose and enjoy. You can do this in each other’s homes or at affordable spots.

These are not your typical wild parties with alcohol flowing over loud offensive music. Think of kid friendly parties. For instance, you can have a late-afternoon party and tell your guests to bring the kids! Serve a variety of finger foods both kids and adults will love and set out a variety of soft drink options and mixers for guests to customize their own flavorful, refreshing drinks. To offer the adults a break, splurge for a sitter who can help wrangle and amuse the kids while the grown-ups enjoy conversation.

If you and your friends enjoy board games or other physical activities, then why not do it properly with everyone invited. Pick a weekend and plan a day of fun activities that will keep adults and children involved and entertained. If you have a big yard go the whole mile and invite families to a game of football or other fun sport that will have everyone participate. Follow it up with food and drinks. To keep the costs low you can request each family to chip in.