How To Make Long-Distance Parenting Productive?

As much as they try to avoid them, there are sometimes unpreventable circumstances which enforce long distances between parents and their children.

The reassuring news is that though the distance keeps parents from attending to their children’s daily needs, it doesn’t mean the end of a loving parent-child relationship.

However long the distance, you and your children can maintain a wonderful relationship if you exercise proper parenting, through showing your love, care, involvement and concern.

By exercising proper parenting, any parent can maintain a big role in their children’s lives — whether they are nearby or far away. Here are a few proper parenting tips to ensure long distances don’t deter you from having close relationship:

• Mailing is the best solution to keeping close communication. By sending an e-mail every other day or using social network on the Internet, you can help your child feel your presence, smile, and remain happy on a daily basis. Though it’s not the same as a physical hug, it keeps you and your child in regular touch and often shares more feelings and amusing incidents than you would in normal circumstances.

• Send electronic cards to each other via the Internet. It is cheaper as well as faster than mailing a card through postal mailing services. Internet provides a wide range of free online cards for every occasion: from birthdays to religious holidays. Electronic cards help show your children how much you care.

• Send interesting books to your children in subjects they are interested in. This encourages children to build learning abilities as well as gather more information about the subject.

• Send scrapbooks to your children with photographs of each other. This is a great way to make your children feel better whenever they miss you. If possible, send a CD with pictures and videos of each other. It is also a great way to keep memories of each other alive forever. Sending pictures and photographs via e-mail attachments is another option.

• Send gifts or packages with candy, toys and other favourite treats to your children, as a token of your love.

• Use a web camera on the Internet for free video chats. Though it’s not quite the same, it does simulate seeing and talking to each other face to face to a large extent, as you feel closer to each other with visual cues of surroundings. Especially effective for special occasions or when you’re really missing each other.

• Try to talk each other daily on the phone. These days, most telephones come with cheap long-distance services. Or give your children a prepaid cell phone with unlimited long distance calls.

• Help your children in their studies via the Internet. Besides facilitating communication and education, it’s an excellent technique for remaining involved in your children’s studies and spending productive time together.

• Playing online Internet games. There are numerous sites which offer free games which can keep you occupied for hours. Playing games via the Internet is an excellent way to spend good time together without spending money.