Life is busy, especially for parents who are spending most of their time at work in order to meet their families’ needs. 

Some kids are taken to kindergarten or day-care centres while too young or are just looked after by house maids. In some cases, mothers pump breast milk into a bottle and it’s the house maid to feed the infant as they are very busy with work.

This situation, according to experts, is affecting children’s growth and is detrimental to their welfare as they lack adequate parental care and bonding.

Usually quality time with children is not all about providing for them, rather, the attachment and bond that children and parents share. In this context, it is the time a child receives from their parent’s undivided attention, this is what strengthens the relationship.

As children grow up, they portray how they were brought up, and most times, a child is attached to the person he or she spends most of the time with.

Experts hence urge that work and other priorities should not take precedence over quality family time with children as it is the case currently. 

 Anitha Kobusingye, a therapist at Imanzi Counselling and Rehabilitation centre, says that quality time between parents and children builds up a healthy attachment system, "it helps in building up the self-worth and esteem of a child, it is advisable for parents.”

According to research done by UNICCEF in 2017, 37% of children stunt due to improper childcare.

When a child doesn’t get proper parental care they grow up with trust issues and social awkwardness, which affects their social welfare.

Kobusingye is of the view that parents nowadays tend to totally rely on house maids with childcare which takes away the opportunity to bond with children.

Her advice is that however busy a parent could be, she or he should use the little time and spend it with their child.

"You can go on trips and also share meals. The bond is developed at an early age.”

As parents, it is very important to have time with our children because it creates a bond between a parent and a child. It is through this friendship that our children get to open up to us about various things going on in their daily lives, she says.

Jackson Gahingana, a parent explains that when you find time to get close to your child, he or she finds a way to share with you about his or her private life which is very important for a parent to keep up with. 

This becomes a platform for a child to share and get advice in return, and by doing this, you are not only being a parent but also a friend to your child, he says.

According to him, being a working parent doesn’t take away your parental responsibilities because if you don’t create time for your children someone else will and it might be in a negative way.

"Parents should also support and encourage children to get involved and participate in extra-curricular activities such as sports clubs, cultural clubs among others.”