Father's Day is behind us and on we go with the rest of summer! Hard to believe that the 4th of July is less then two weeks away, before you know it summer will be over and school will be back at it! It's so easy to allow our schedules, responsibilities, etc. to take over and lose sight of what's most important. A research study was done on over 1,500 children and the main question that was asked is "what makes a family happy?". The primary answer was not vacations, bigger home, nice cars, new toys...it was just doing activities together. I've heard it said before that children spell love as T-I-M-E. So with that being said, here is a couple tips from the blog "Tips for Busy Dads" on how to stay plugged in to what is most important, your family:
1. Set your expectations right
Expect chaos because so many times when I get home, chaos is happening. Rare are those days where I walk into my house and my family just ministers to you with a soda, newspaper and the evening news (were those ever the days or just drawings from Norman Rockwell?). Usually I get girls telling me about their day and wanting me to do things with them…things that just make me tired thinking about it. So make sure your expectations are right before you walk through your door so that you don’t get frustrated.
2. Be flexible
No matter how many books you read on parenting and children, the bottom line is no one can prepare you for what you are going to encounter. No one specific book can tell you exactly how to raise your children. The rules break all the time. That is why you need to be flexible and roll with the punches. The more we are flexible and have our expectations set right, the less frustrated we will be when things don’t go quite as we had planned or as the book says. By being flexible we are able to really learn who our children are and how we can best meet their needs and help them grow to be healthy children and young adults.
3. Inject Christ in your life
On your way home, turn on the Christian music station or read some scripture before you walk into your house…scripture on patience Seriously, I have found the more I listen to Christian music before I go anywhere, the more my mindset changes and get focused on the right priorities.
4.”Be here now”
“Be here now” implies that it doesn’t matter what you could be doing somewhere else or should be doing. What is most important is that you stay focused on where you are at. So that means, when you are at home with your kids, you focus on your kids. That means no cell phone, iPad or any other work distraction you may have. I know that is easier said than done, but the reality is we have at least 9-5 M-F to focus on our work and toys (yes, our iPhone is definitely a toy). We need those few hours each day when we get home to be focused on our children and loving our wife.
What else can you add to the list?
