On Sunday, I concluded a series called "Power Up..." with some lessons from Jesus on how to "Power Up Your Family". The first lesson was, "Spend quantities of quality time with them."
My dad was a fisherman. He didn't get to go fishing that often, but he took advantage of it when he could. He loved trout fishing in the lakes and streams of the Rocky Mountains in the northernmost edge of New Mexico.
I wasn't all that interested in taking the time to go fishing until I was a teen. However, at about age 16, I began wanting the thrill of landing fish on a boat, a dock, a lakeshore, or the bank of a stream. One memorable summer, dad and I went somewhere different every day of vacation.
We didn't catch very many fish that year. But we created a memory that I have held onto for over 40 years.
What "quantity of quality time" do you remember from your childhood?
What have you done recently to spend time together with your family?
3 comments:
This reminds me of Hubby and Gunny camping when Gunny was little. I've often heard Hubby tell young parents about that camping, because they really only did it about a half dozen times, but Gunny remembers it that they did it ALL THE TIME. Hubby's point being that children treasure good memories you make with them, and remember them as even a bigger deal than they were!
For my kids... we try to make each weekend all about quality time since Jeff and I both work full time. That doesn't mean we run around going places, per se. But we do focus on the family unit most of the time.
Some of the best times we have together are family wrestling/tickling fights in bed. It's usually a middle of the afternoon thing. It usually starts when Zach invades Teagan's room (to her delight). I go in to hang out and play. I lay across the bed and soon there are children on top of me, climbing and crawling and bouncing! Soon there is tickling and the laughter calls Jeff to join us and the whole family ends up having a big old funfest!
We also do "dates" with our kids. Daddy and Teagan go out for ice cream. Mommy and Zach go out for a walk. That sort of thing. One on one time. Every couple of weeks or so.
As to my growing up... I can't say I have a lot of memories of my mom making special time for the 2 of us. As an adult, she and I have grown very close and I cherish these memories more than anything.
I think my most fond memories come later in my childhood, once we had moved to Cincinnati. We became members of the Cincinnati Zoo and had the best trips there. My dad would try and try to get the howler monkey sto start whooping... I suppose I should have been embarassed... but I would actually just join in! This was when I was 10, 11, 12 years old.
Sandy and Liz, thank you both for such great descriptions. I appreciate your input!
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