When Was the Last Time You Spent Quality Family Time?

 

This is going to be a season of focusing on what is important. Part in an effort to save money, part in an effort to reconnect with your family, your goal for the summer is to spend time together. With one daughter just graduating from college and another just graduating from high school you are simply trying to spend as many as moments possible together. During the last four years when your older daughter was 12 hours away at college you often struggled to enjoy the moment. If you were doing things with your younger daughter at home you ached for the missing sister who was in college. When you and your husband made the 12 hour trek south to visit your college daughter you missed your younger daughter who was back home because of her high school schedule.

There is a Bible verse talks about three or more of you gathered in his name, but you longed for the more and were rarely satisfied with the three. You tried to joke about it, but you really did miss the times when the four of you could be in the same space. You still had lots of fun and created many great memories when someone was missing, but your family simply functions better when the four of you can be together. This summer, however, will be different. With the four of you home for a significant portion of the summer, you are ready to reconnect.

Family Time Remains the Most Special Time for Many
Although many of us spend hours a day on our phones and other digital devices, many of us really long for a deeper human connection. And while it may be fun to keep up with hundreds of so called friends on social media, there is nothing quite like spending time with those you have known your whole life. Family time is, and will continue to be, a great way to make sure that you are grounded and prepared for any of the challenges that life throws your way. From making homemade apple pies from the fruits that you picked together on a local apple orchard tour to wine tasting with your adult children, there are plenty of ways to enjoy your time together.

There is no arguing that cooking together is a great way to enjoy each other’s company. Whether you are creating homemade apple pies from a family recipe passed down for generations or you are trying new baked salmon, kitchen time is often full of laughter and relaxation, not to mention tasty results!

Although many families have a goal of cooking together on a weekly basis, many of us have schedules that prevent achieving this goal. When it comes time for the holidays, however, several families have a tradition of preparing homemade apple pies and other varieties together. People most commonly list homemade apple pies as their top favorite pie flavor with 47% indicating as much Pumpkin, at 37%, comes in second and chocolate cream is third at 32%. Perhaps one of the reasons that apple tops the list is that many families make a complete event out of apple pie making. Starting at an orchard, some families make certain that they pick fruit together at least once every fall and follow up the orchard visit with a day of baking pies or canning apple sauce.

No matter what your family’s tastes are, it is important that you carve out the time to spend with one another. It may take an entire two pounds of apples make one single nine-inch pie, but the memories you make from a day spent together will last longer than the tasty slices you serve to your family and friends. Whether it is college travel or high school activities that is keeping your family from spending as much time together as you would like, it is important that you find a way to make sure you are getting the time you need to relax and enjoy your spouse and your children whenever possible. We may live in a digital world, but the reality is we all do better if we spend time with those we live.