Quality vs. Quantity...

"Take a 'vacation' from television for a week and see what happens.  Set out some long-forgotten table games, craft materials, family photo albums and favorite story books where they'll be easily spotted."  Taken from "A Dad After God's Own Heart", by Paul Lewis

Quality family time is so important to the well being of our relationships within the family structure.

We use to have what our family called Friday Family Fun Night where we would play games, go to the lake for a picnic, play restaurant or whatever else one of us might want to do.  Sometimes we would let one of the children pick while other times Neil or I would choose an activity.  Now that we do farmers markets on Saturdays year round, we don't get to do this any longer.  Our older children still talk about those fun times.  Ethan happened to mention it last evening while getting ready for market which got me thinking... during the school year we try to do things on Sundays, but don't do it as faithfully as we did FFFN.  Summer time is much easier simply because there is no school in the morning. We will often do fun things like go to Greenfield Village and The Henry Ford Museum on Mondays, go to the zoo or go out to the lake... things aren't quite as busy on Monday as the weekends which makes it much nicer in my opinion.

Although it doesn't always have to be an event... Time spent together as a family doing the simplest activity like reading a family story... sitting by a campfire staring at the stars... playing "eye spy"... playing scrabble or chess,or even putting puzzles  together.  These things will create the memories that will last a life time. It will also help settle a positive habit for our children for their families, Lord willing they have one. 

This week go for walk or a bike ride as a family... take a drive up North... go get an ice cream cone and just talk... our children in this day and age of technology need us as parents to guild the way back to simpler times... enjoy each other.

Until next time,
Jean
    

Parenting...

"A father's goodness is higher than the mountain, a mother's goodness deeper than the sea." Source Unknown

Being a parent is one of the greatest challenges as well as joys any human can know.  It brings with it a multitude of responsibilities including teaching, nurturing, admonishing and unconditionally loving to name just a few.  All these things are part of our daily lives from the moment they are born into our families until the day they leave the nest.  I have often said that I don't think I will ever go through that 'empty nest syndrome'. I don't know... It seems like each stage that they go through from baby days of crawling into walking into running and then the day of marriage taking them of to start a life of their own is something I look forward to.  Those future days to come, Lord willing... I don't see them as a loss, but as part of a completion to hopefully 'a job well done'.  A day that they can go forth on their own and live a life that will bring them happiness and fulfillment serving God in their lives. 

Children can cause us parents both joy and sorrow and I believe that can go the other way as well.  I pray that our children will know the love in our heart's for each of them all the days of their life.

"We never know the love of our own parents for us until we become parents." Henry Ward Beecher 

Until next time,
Jean