T.I.M.E. Together In Moments that Endure

In the everyday bustle of life, how often is time significant? How often do we look at a clock? Check our schedule? Wish and hope for more hours in the day? I would say most of us feel like, "time is of the essence" and that we just don't have enough of it. It seems practical enough to schedule our days according our clocks, but what happens when our lives are run by the hands on our watch instead of what is most important? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines time as, "the thing that is measured as seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, etc.". I have chosen to redefine this word as it relates to the un-measurable moments achieved through quality time spent with spouses, friends, loved ones, and families. T.I.M.E. -- Together In Moments that Endure. Long lasting relationships within families are created through being together, being present with one another, and engaging in activities that strengthen the family unit. Family Facts explains that family time is a wise investment. The benefits of such time include;

"...greater emotional bonding within the family, Children’s academic success is associated with having mothers who frequently communicated with them, Adolescents whose parents are involved in their lives tend to exhibit fewer behavioral problems, Teens whose parents are home with them after school and in the evening are less likely to experience emotional distress, and Teens who frequently have dinner with their families are at a lower risk for substance abuse."

The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FAML) provided employees both male and female with "job-protected, unpaid leave of up to 12 weeks to take care of a newborn, a sick or newly adopted child, or a spouse or parent or to tend to the employee's personal serious medical condition." (Baird, Reynolds, 2004). The act was in response to two pressing matters effecting those in the work place; taking care of children, and elderly family members. Through the research of Baird and Reynolds, they set out to uncover why only 3.6% of working adults had knowledge of and took advantage of the benefits offered through this act in 1995-1996. Although their research uncovered that many factors go into that low percentage, one major factor was the lack of knowledge that the benefits were available. This low percentage, decreases the time parents actually spent at home due to their careers. Not much has changed in the past 11 years, with more and more dual-career families and single-parent households, nor has the fact that parents and children are spending less time together. So how do we increase that time and make it count whether you are a military family with a deployed spouse, a single parent, a dual-career household, or a stay-at-home parent. Family Facts describes "core" activities for families that are low-cost, everyday activities that can aide in the T.I.M.E. families spend. In my own life these activities range from jumping on the trampoline to reading bedtime stories to feeding the ducks at the local park, and most recently a daily cool down in the water hose and storage tub (pictured). These things do indeed take time, but it is the T.I.M.E. that makes them worthwhile.

Here is an example of a single mother, Conni, who is raising four children, and how they enjoy their T.I.M.E. There are numerous organizations who aim at creating T.I.M.E. for families, one is Family Events a national organization that provides family friendly events in the realm of motor sports such as monster trucks, motocross, mud racing, muscle cars, etc. They have nearly 60,000 people who are involved in their cause to provide such entertainment to families. Another, more well-known establishment is Chick-Fil-A who provides events across the country in many communities to promote the importance of family T.I.M.E. Our time is valuable, maybe even limited, but our T.I.M.E. is invaluable and forever. Making your T.I.M.E. count with with your family initiates benefits beyond the walls of your home, and trickles into building a society set with high standards and morals. References: Employee Awareness of Family Leave Benefits: The Effects of Family, Work, and Gender Author(s): Chardie L. Baird and John R. Reynolds Source: The Sociological Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 2 (Spring, 2004), pp. 325-353 Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Midwest Sociological Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4121175 Accessed: 10-07-2016 17:29 UTC