Father’s Day is Coming Up – Do You Know Where Your Father Is?

Growing up, I spent my days going to kindergarten in the morning. Then Mom would pick me up, make me Spaghettio’s for lunch and I’d spend the afternoon playing with friends or watching “You Can’t Do That on Television” on Nickelodeon (anyone?). Then Mom would cook dinner, Dad would come home from work and that’s just the way things were.

These days, working dads would be willing to trade work for family time if it were financially possible, according to CareerBuilder.com’s annual Working Dads survey. Thirty-seven percent say they would take a pay cut if it meant spending more time at home. Of those fathers, 42 percent say they would take a pay cut of 10 percent or more. Of dads who live in households with more than one income, 37 percent would leave their job if their family could live off of their spouse or significant other’s income.

All work, no play… at least not with the kids.

It’s difficult for any working parent to balance time between the office and family. When parents miss even the occasional dinner, school play, dance recital or baseball game, kids are bound to get upset. Twenty-two percent of working dads say work is negatively impacting their relationship with their children.

Forty-seven percent of father’s admit to spending less than three hours per day with their kids during the work week, while 22 percent said they spend said they spend less than two hours and 6 percent can only spend one hour. More than one-fourth (26 percent) of dad’s surveyed have missed three or more significant events in their child’s life because of work.

Here are some steps you take outside of the office to better balance your work and family life:

Stay in touch – Checking in periodically with the family will keep you up-to-date on the goings on at home and school. In some cases, calling home may allow you to adjust your schedule to attend last minute events.

Work from one household calendar– Consider putting up one calendar in the house that everyone can access and update. Baseball games, recitals and other activities should be included with business trips and longer company meetings. This will allow the whole family to be organized and reduce the amount of scheduling confusion.

Pull out your work only after the sun has gone down – On the nights that you bring work home, limit the amount of email checking or even working until the children have gone to sleep. When you are at home, your focus should be on your children.

Schedule time – A great way to make sure you and your children spend quality time together is to schedule activities with them each week. These don’t have to be eight-hour events, but more along the lines of a bike ride, a trip to the playground, or even just to play a game.

Invite your family to your office – Look at your schedule and block off some time for your family to stop by and see where you work and meet your co-workers. Some organizations even schedule kid-friendly potlucks with other co-workers and their families.