With five kids running amok in our house, it was sometimes easy to get caught up in the business of just living. I had to be intentional to give them the part of me their hearts longed for.

So, every Saturday mornings while Karen blissfully slept in, I took the whole lot of them out to the beach (we lived in West Palm).

On the drive there we'd play games that we made up on the spot (ask my kiddos about "the rhyming game"), and then on the way home we'd usually stop at the library to get books, and a French bakery to get some wonderful hot bread.

With so many of them, it was easy to lose a sense of connection with them as individuals. So periodically, I'd take them out as individuals. They loved a local bagel place that served hot chocolate. I don't know what we talked about, but it was being alone with dad that was
special.

We also had a regular daily time - when I came home from work, they knew that I was in "play mode." We usually went to the park accompanied by a gaggle of their friends. Tag, pushing the merry-go-round, see-saws, and pushing them on the swing were standard fare. But we added games that we'd make up on the spot too. We've got videos of our weed-fights, kind of a souped-up pillow fight except with very tall weeds. Or there was the game where I'd pull them around on palm fronds.

In fact, I'll ask my kiddos to add their own recollections in the comment section below should you need help with your creativity quotient after a hard day at the office.

One of the things they loved most when they were smaller was to carouse on the carpet. I'm pretty sure that all dads know how to play horsey or airplane (balancing them on your feet as you lay on your back). And when they'd just about exhausted me there, we'd turn on loud music and all five of us would dance to it, two hanging on my back, one in my arms, and two on the floor!

Let me encourage you fathers (and moms) to allocate at least an hour a day to this stuff - it will be good for you and your kids will always be anchored to your heart for them. If you need help in coming up with creative dates, check out this book 24 Dates With My Dad. Have fun!