Time is Ticking
Kids sure grow up fast!
Any parent can attest to this fact.
One day they’re learning to crawl and before you know it, they’re leaving home.
We know it’s been sneaking up on us, but this year our oldest son, Trevor, turns 18. Next year will be his senior year of high school and then he’ll head off into the world.
When we think of just one more year with him living at home, we realize how much more precious every moment we have with him is. And since teenagers get involved in so many things (work, extracurricular activities, and friends) there seems to be even less and less time to spend with him each week.
An article I read last year is still on my mind. It was an article about how Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, leaves work at 5:30 every day. She said “I walk out of this office every day at 5:30 so I’m home for dinner with my kids at 6:00, and interestingly, I’ve been doing that since I had kids.”
All we can say is “Way to go Sheryl Sandberg!”
We love seeing when people put such high priority on their families. And as the provider for our family, I’m glad I made that a priority in my life from the start of our marriage. Yes, advancing in my career and taking new opportunities for growth have been a goal of mine as well. But I’ve made sure to set similar goals on the home front.
One of those main goals is to be involved in the lives of my wife and children. And that means spending time with them.
The good news is that we’ve established family traditions that will help us take advantage of the limited time we have with our kids. They may sound simple, but a lot of times “simple” is all it takes.
- Eating dinner together
- Reading bedtime stories
- Family chores
- Weekly family night
- Regular date nights
- Family prayer
- Attending church services
- Coaching sports teams
- Going to each other’s performances
- Vacations
- Playing games
Even though we’ve dedicated this website to family board games and card games, as you can see, it’s just one small item on the list of ways to stay connected as a family.
The funny thing is that as kids get older, the type of board games and card games they enjoy changes as well. They start to enjoy more strategy in their games and I enjoy them bringing a tough challenge. But that’s also the stage of life where getting a game to the table with them is much tougher.
But whether it’s playing a game or eating breakfast, we’ll try to cherish the time we have together while it lasts.
Time DOES go by fast – somewhere around age 30 it hit overdrive 🙁 my family didn’t play games though my brother and I wish we did (my dad liked them but my mom hated playing them and it didn’t seem right for 3 of us to play and my mom be left out so tv won out mostly and reading for my mom and I). We did the family dinner and church together – the only dinners we weren’t together were only because of band (me) or sports (my brother) and even then my mom would sit with is then eat with my dad. We were at every event the other had unless there was a major conflict which didn’t happen very often. Thankfully I can look back and remember a lot of detail here and there – I remember times we did play Hearts or dominoes(or the time my dad taught my brother and I to play ’21/blackjack’ using the box of pennies he had to role and my mom fuming (we had no idea it was ‘gambling’ LOLto us it was a fun push your luck game that was only repeated once before my mom really got mad). I remember a few picnics when I was younger and my dad sitting through band concerts(to hm if it aint country it ain’t music so he really sacrificed!) glad I have them because both my parents passed in 2011. hopefully you’ll have Caleb willing to play for several more years! I wish I could borrow ya’ll to play with sometimes! 🙂
It’s very true… Our families grow up way too fast! And quite honestly, that’s one of the primary goals of Calliope Games. We ask everyone to plaese make a point of spending quality time with with family and friends – today, tomorrow, everyday. It’ll make a huge difference in thier lives and your own. Thanks for sharing Trent!