We all want to feel and know we are loved. Children are no exception. I believe that when we parents let our children know they are safe, secure, valued and loved, then they have most precious thing we can give them.

As a working parent, here are ten ways to help you to know whether you are spending enough time with your children. If you don’t recognize many of these or don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re in trouble!

1.You work to feed your family, not your ego.

Children respond to music at a very young age. Nearly everyone can remember their mother or grandmother singing nursery rhymes to them as little children. I have vivid memories of swinging outside and singing ‘Hey Diddle Diddle’ as loudly as I could just to hear sound. With my own children I have always used music to calm and entertain them; singing softly to them in rocker or energetically leading them in finger-plays and sing-a-longs. However you may choose to do it, singing or playing music with children gives them a beginnings of music appreciation, not to mention special memories that are created.

My son is a wild and wholly two-year-old, and greatly affected by his environment and sounds and sights he encounters. Getting out of control is very easy with this little boy, and it’s up to me to find ways of calming him down and quickly distracting him and hopefully changing his mood. Music affects a child’s mood, and quiet, comforting music can relax an anxious child. It’s amazing way my son reacts to his special CDs that he knows and enjoys. Often he’ll just stop what he is doing and I’ll see him stand and look toward stereo and just sway and sing to himself.