Family Fun Night

For years parents were told, “It’s not the quantity of time you spend with your children that counts, it’s the quality.” I finally came to the conclusion this is a cope out. The average father spends about 5 minutes a day with his children, and about 8 minutes a day on the weekend. A quality 5 minutes is practically meaningless.
The agrarian society of Israel was conducive to spending most of the day together as a family. The boys would help their father on the farm, and the girls would work with their mother in the home. The industrial revolution changed all that and, ever since, we must fight to have quality and quantity time with our children. Good intentions just don’t cut it.
One solution many homes have tried is called a Family Fun Night. A family sets aside an entire evening to be spent together. No one is allowed to schedule other activities that night. Each child old enough gets to choose the (reasonable and affordable) activity for that week. Some ideas might include board games, playing ball in the front or back yard, going to the park, wrestling, outdoor games, putting a puzzle together, singing together, reading a book together. Others?
I purposely left out watching the TV or a video together. I well remember the first TV our family got. I was in elementary school and we were the third family on our block to get the black and white set. Programs started at 4:00pm with a half hour of test pattern. Then came the excitement- Captain Video and his TV Rangers! Before getting a TV, our living room was set up so that chairs faced each other. In the evenings, we would talk and share our lives together. When the TV entered, the chairs were rearranged so that they all faced the box. How many times I remember yelling at my sister or being yelled at by my brother for “blocking my view.” The programs were wholesome and family oriented. The humor was clean and funny. But our family now focused on what was being presented from the box, rather than on each other.
This does not mean TV shows or videos can’t have a place. If the instruction is turned into a discussion time together, it serves a purpose. But my suggestion is to center your family time on each other, on building relationships and making memories, rather than on being entertained. In our fast paced society, most of us have to schedule time so this vital part of family life is accomplished.