Can you turn your morning or afternoon commute into Quality Time with your child? In this episode, Daddy Clay tackles the subject of bonding with your kids while you are in your car driving them to school or sports. Commuting time can add up and give dads and parents a captive audience with their children as they drive. Is this a good parenting tactic for you and your family? Watch and find out. DadLabs ep 470 is brought to you by BabyBjorn.

DADDY CLAY: How many hours a week do you spend driving your kids to school or activities? Do you think of it as quality time? You should.

This show is brought to you by BabyBjorn. Talk about quality. BabyBjorn.

Mommy Octavia was over for cocktails the other day. She does that a lot. And I was complaining about the drive to school with Coop -- it was raining, and the Stay at Home Moms in their giant SUVs were causing gridlock in the drop off loop. Does this happen to you? Does it really take an Armada to get a 2nd grader to school? So I’m bitching when she drops this redirect on my ass.

She says “Since you’ve been driving him, I’ve really noticed a change in how you two relate...how you’re bonded. Haven’t you?” The obvious answer was “no,” because like most parents, I’m so busy 99% of the time that I don’t really have time to be self-aware. This is why you invite the neighbors over and fill ‘em up with cheap Chardonnay, so you can get at the truth. So the light went on in my head.

The drive to pre-school has changed my relationship with my son. And well it should. Fifteen minutes each way. Half-hour a day. Two and a half hours a week, ten hours a month. 80 hours in a school year.

Last year he went to the daycare my wife and I helped found at her work. He had lunch with her every day. She did most dropoffs and pickups. He had obvious preference. All age appropriate. No big deal. But that’s kind of gone away. May be the age. But maybe that two and a half hours a week, ten hours a month had something to do with it. Maybe it’s the hugs at dropoff and pickup. Maybe it’s the interesting albeit brief conversations we have -- usually in the afternoon. Something has definitely shifted. Without my even being conscious of it.

I’m revaluing my commute. I used to think of it as transitory time. Between places. Okay to sink into myself. But now I’m thinking that commuting is actually a place where I am with my kid. A lot. The phone is getting turned off. That is not time for a last call of the day. I’m turning NPR down, there’s always time to listen online later. More talk. More silliness and jokes. More questions from me about little things.

Next year he’ll take the bus to school. So it’s just a little oasis, this nine-month stretch of commutes we have together. My commute is precious. A half hour alone with my youngest child. An almost daily dose of quality time which will go away in just three short months.

Hey, if you have ideas on how to make the most of commuting time with the kids, head over to DadLabs dot com and join the conversation there. I’d appreciate your input. Thanks to our sponsor BabyBjorn -- quality to the core. BabyBjorn.