Family Friday

Family Friday is here!! Friday’s is family day in our house. The girls get excited because they look forward to Daddy spending time with them Friday night which is usually movie or game night and they also know that Saturday their daddy will have an activity planned for just them. Sunday is the Lord’s day so we worship Him together as a family. As you can see the weekend, is about spending time together as a family and the festivities begin on Friday night.

Statistics show that kids cherish experiences with mom and dad NOT gifts. They want quality time with their parents. Keep it simple…memories can be made even on a budget. There are activities that do not require any money being spent. Tonight we are doing movie night sometimes we go out to a movie at the theatre while other nights we watch Xfinity on demand or movies we have purchased. Sometimes we do family game night while other times we cut off all the lights and play hide and go seek. Often times we will go walk on the beach…see there is no excuse for making memories with our kids.

Since coming home over a year ago and being a full time mom, I have notice that my kids give their dad and me two totally different answers to the same question. To stay connected and know what is really going on in their lives, it is important that both parents are engaged. If you are a widow, engage a grandparent to help you and if you are divorced find a way to set aside the bitterness and collaborate for your children’s sake and also engage the step parents as well. Our kids desire and require our presence, our active listening, and our attention.

My girls love having me home all the time now. They told me that they used to hate that I worked because they felt like even when I was there that I really wasn’t as I was busy planning future activitites or trips for work or exhausted. Kids are observant and we do not give them enough credit sometimes. My girls recognized that phyiscal presence did not equate to emotional and spiritual presence. My girls let me know that I was not there for them when they were younger and this is heartbreaking to hear as a parent. I apologized to my girls and am proud to report that our relationships are thriving. They get jealous sometimes if I spend more time on homework with one than the other, but we work through these little tifts. Now, I see how they crave attention from their father who is busy working during the week. My husband is so great at being present with the girls and he loves to create adventures and activities for them so my girls live for the weekend as they know that they are going to have full attention from both of their parents.

My prayer for all families is that you all are busy creating the beautiful memories while experiencing life. Life is too short and what we do will be passed on for generations so ask yourself what will your influence be when you are gone…make sure it is positive. I want all of our children to say that thei rmom and dad was the best and spent time shaping them into loving, contributing human beings.