Choose Family Time Over Screen Time

 What constitutes quality time in your family or marriage?  Sitting around the dinner table eating and talking? Playing board games? Playing in the backyard? Or maybe watching TV together?  I invite you to take a moment to note areas where you and your family have taken time to connect with one another in the past few days. 

With advancements in technology and social media, you may find yourself immersed in the lives of others, pursuing unending streams of knowledge, and left feeling detached from your own life. A quick internet search led me to a 2015 Statista report stating that adults ages 18 and up spend an average of 11+ hours a day on technological devices, including TV viewing.  Other studies concluded a more conservative average of 7-8 hours of daily technology use.  Let’s consider that for a moment.. Say we are sleeping 8 hours a day, working 8 hours a day, and spending 7-8 hours on technology. ​

Where does that place us in terms of connecting with family and spouses? 

In my own experience, raising children requires a whole lot more than meeting their physical needs for food, water, and shelter. Additionally, great marriages don’t just happen while simultaneously scrolling through Instagram. Children and marriages require nurturing, love, support, opportunities to grow, and regular intervals of our undivided attention.  Let us reassess where our time is spent, stop to listen, and engage with our children.  Life lessons need to be dispensed to our children and hurt feelings resulting from bad days at school require care. Successful marriages demand ongoing work and availability of time allows us to close marital gaps by meeting a spouse or partner’s needs. 

So I invite you to take a moment, put down your phone or device and schedule time with your family.  Incorporate 15 minute family walks, dinners with the family, or read a book to your little ones. Why? Because there are no second chances when raising children. Although I believe it is possible to rekindle the spark between disconnected spouses, marriages often fair better when both partners still have hope in the ability to enhance their relationship.    ​

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