Sometimes parenting can feel like wading through treacle. Every meal, every bedtime, every slog to school is groundhog day.

Or perhaps it feels like time flies by in a blur of minor arguments, work and housekeeping, your feet barely touching the ground before the next day starts.

Whichever situation you resonate with, they both have a common theme.

A lack of connection and fun. And parenting without connection or fun gets old fast.

You need a love bank.

The love bank is a method of consciously building bitesize connection points into your busy family day.

Just like regular deposits in a bank account, the pennies soon add up.

Sounds easy right?

It can be hard to see how far we’ve strayed from our parenting hopes and dreams. I’ve lost count of the number of parents who’ve said to me, ‘I didn’t think it would be this hard’.

And while it’s important not to gloss over the pressures of parenting, here’s the thing:

Maybe it doesn’t have to be.

Connection and fun can be nurtured and prioritised. Space can be made in our busy lives and the love bank is one method for helping that to happen.

So what do you have to do?

Simple. You increase the number of deposits you make into your child’s love bank. This could be done a million ways.

A hug, a wink, 10 minutes of solid child-led play, singing their favourite song, getting in the bath with them, snuggling while watching the TV instead of being on your phone.

(If you're struggling for ideas we have a downloadable play challenge in our FREE resource library - just follow the link below to subscribe)

Step away from your adult pace and join them for a while. Actually it would be great if we could all just slow down sometimes

So then when you need to take a few pence out – by setting a limit or asking them to do a less preferred task - you’re in credit.

A request is more likely to be followed if you’ve spent the last 20 minutes being fun or if you gave them all the cuddles they needed before school that day.

If you keep trying to make withdrawals out of an empty account it won’t be long before you’re in the red and everyone is fed up. No connection and no fun.

If you’ve got older kids you could even all open love banks for each other. The whole family can notice the things you do for each other. Sharing with your children how they make you feel loved and appreciated can be a powerful connection tool.

Why not download our free printable template and open your love bank today.