How To Rediscover Family Time

Author: Alyice Edrich

Every so often my family's life gets out of balance. Life gets in the way and somehow we find ourselves on the fast track to nowhere. We are so busy getting from point A to point B that we forget to enjoy the ride, to enjoy each other, to enjoy ourselves, to enjoy life.

That happened this past year when my husband took on a new position which required him to spend 50 to 60 hours a week at work, my son moved away to attend college and live in a dorm, and my daughter discovered the joy of new friends.

Soon, I found myself hating my husband's job because it had become his mistress and there was nothing left at the end of the week—let alone at the end of the day—for me or our daughter. Oh, the poor guy tried. He'd come home exhausted from work and still manage to walk hand-in-hand around town with me as he told me all about his day. He even tried to stay up past dinner to visit with his daughter but his body was just too tired and in need of rest.

This separation of family lasted months and it was wearing on my very last nerve.

Then my son came home for the summer and my daughter started summer vacation and things slowly began to change. The kids put aside their television, Internet, and video game addictions and I learned to stop letting the stress over my failing business—due to the economic downturn—dictate my mood or the hours I worked. Over the course of the next few weeks my kids and I slowly started to reconnect.

Sadly, my husband was still missing out.

Two weeks into the new schedule, my husband realized that he could no longer commit to so many hours on the job. It wasn't good for his health and it definitely wasn't good for his relationships. He spoke to his boss about cutting back on some of those hours and returned to the family.

Once again balance had been restored.

We were having dinner together around the kitchen table, we were playing board and card games, we were talking and laughing, and just hanging out. And life felt good.

It's strange how "family time" can often get put on the back burner when it should be the one thing that we focus most on.

As a mother, I've had to take a step back to re-evaluate our busy schedules on many occasions. It's easy to let life run on autopilot but it's hard to make conscious decisions to keep it in balance.

Finding a way to say no to people, events, and things that distract us from our ultimate goal is important. For you see, rediscovering family time is about so much more than just spending time together.

Spending quality time together as a family builds positive self-esteem, encourages communication, gives a strong sense of belonging, ends feelings of loneliness and isolation, relieves stress, and helps one feel loved, wanted, and accepted.

The simple truth is that life always seems better when it is balanced enough that we can appreciate the most important parts of our lives: family.

How To Rediscover Family Time

Author: Alyice Edrich

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