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In America, we are in a generation of busyness. Time can pass by very quickly and important things get pushed aside. With the advent of television, two parents working, and tons of distractions, it is easy to overlook investing time with those close to us.
According to Crosswalk.com, American Demographics reported that parents today spend roughly 40 percent less time with their children than did parents a generation ago. Think about it a moment. On the average workday, a man or woman gets up around six or seven in the morning. He may see his children and wife (if he is married) for a very short time in the morning. Then he is out the door and gone to work for seven, eight, or nine hours.
Upon everybody arriving home, there's the sense and desire to want to unwind, relax, and simply take it easy. When evening shows come on television, it really gets easy to just ignore everyone around you. Before you know it, it is seven of eight o'clock at night. There has been very little conversation between family members and often everyone sort of goes their separate ways.
My family, like many others, has developed a few healthy routines in the face of these modern day challenges that would probably be helpful to any family that would use them. I would like to share a few of these things that might be a blessing to you.
- I know some of you are not morning people, and neither am I really, but we really make an effort to conscientiously speak to each other in the morning. Before leaving for work and school, we regularly come together as a family for prayer and to bless one another. We then hugging kiss each other goodbye and encourage each other to have a great day. I believe this is important in establishing family bonds, and reassuring commitment to one another.
- I generally try to call my wife at least once a day just to say hello and let her know I'm thinking about her. Though that might be a personal preference kind of thing, it just gives us an opportunity to say “hi” in the course of all of our busyness.
- Between my wife and me, we almost always talk in the early afternoon and share a little bit about our day. 95% of the time we all eat dinner around the table as a family. We talk, joke, laugh, share important information and shoot the breeze with each other. Here, the communication is the important thing.
- I make a concerted effort to interact with my daughter concerning her day. Though she generally likes to do this on her terms, being a young teenager and all (you know), I still press her to share things with me even when she would prefer to not have to be bothered with parent questions and conversation.
- Quite frankly, we all also make an effort to say goodnight to each other and wish each other a restful evening. My daughter is particularly good about wishing us a good night.
- We work to have a family altar time once or twice a week. This is when we come together and share, pray, read scripture, and read from some quality books which include the bible and in our case “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren.
There's much more that can be considered with these types of interactions. They could include other things that are creative and help to develop family bonds. I'm not suggesting that these things will fireproof your family from all difficulties that could possibly come your way. This is not an exhaustive list, but making these kinds of efforts encourages positive long term results with family relationships.
There are many other things that would need to be considered in terms of the one-on-one relationships as well other family relationship interactions. We plan on speaking to more of these in future printings. We are hopeful that this article can make a difference and strengthen your family's well-being!!!
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