My daughter appreciated it that I was there but I wouldn't define it as "quality" time. It was more a hug and then she wanted to go back to her friends at school. |
Doesnt matter if all she did was give you a hug and she ran off to play with her friends. The fact you went and she can proudly say you did so means more to our kids than a lot of parents realize!! I have made it a point to go eat lunch when I can with my grandkids during school years. I still do now for the 8yo. He is always asking when I am coming and when I do go, he is happy, talks to me for a minute. pays more attention to his friends, hugs me when he has to go back to class and i am leaving and thats it but he will tell his mom when she comes in that i came for lunch. He gets more excited when I bring his little brother along with. It is the little things in life. It is something she will remember. |
+1 This is how I would look at it, too. I made an effort to attend the "parties," because my kid noticed, but not the random events, because most parents didn't come so it wasn't a thing she cared about. |
Not the OP, but I can't attend every single thing the school does. I had to prioritize events, and I generally went for events where most other kids would have a parent there and there was something planned for us (food, a performance) v. random thing that a few parents happened to drop in for. |
This. And for the random drop-ins, I'd much rather go and read a book to the class or lead an activity than go to be there for farm day. The former is a lot more lasting as far as memories go than the latter, where DC will mostly remember that there were rabbits. I have two kids at different schools and work full-time, so I have to choose. |