Do you have a weekly family night?
Someone recently (as part of another conversation) mentioned that they have a family night once a week. The evening is spent, from what I gather, doing a vast variety of activities, including games, swimming, craft etc…
It got me to thinking. Will we have a family night when Erin is older?
The little man on my right shoulder says “YES”, what a great way to ensure that family time will remain sacred. A different family member can choose an activity each week. It will be a night that cannot be broken by outside distractions, a chance to bond and be more than ships that pass in the night (and day).
And then there’s the other little man (with his constantly opposing views) that says “NO”, why do I need a family night? Family time should be plentiful and often and not reserved for one measly night. What have our lives come too that we now need to schedule time to spend with our family, like a dentist or doctor’s appointment. Have we become so distracted that we now need a family night, for, without it, months may pass with barely a ‘morning’ uttered.
I know that the person who mentioned the family night is a devoted mother, who puts more than a ton of effort into her family, which makes me sway to the idea that this is a bonus night. A night together on top of all the other time together. What makes Family Night particularly special is the different experiences created by the activities taking place.
Will I have a Family Night when Erin is older? Yes, I probably will, it may not be on the same night each week, which would be impossible with work commitments. It may be more than once a week, or less… perhaps it will be a ‘family day’. We will swim, bake cakes, do craft, play games and let Erin choose. It’ll be fun, and… well, actually it will be kind of as it is now, which is kind of how I like it.
Do you have a family night? What kind of things do you do?
Photo courtesy of Lion’s Mane, used under a Creative Commons License.
[tags] family night, family time, activities, parenting, parenthood, family, kids [/tags]
6 responses so far ↓
Stu Mark // Jan 28, 2007 at 9:53 pm
This inspired a lot of thought. We don’t have a Family Night or Game Night, we just catch as catch can. And we seem to be a pretty tight-knit family. We laugh, we support each other, we live. Every once in a while, we play Cranium.
Also, gosh and golly, but we’re so busy! I don’t know that we could make time for Family Night. Not a steady one, anyway.
I appreciate that some families really need to schedule Family Night, but I reserve my take on why, as I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
Annie // Jan 28, 2007 at 10:41 pm
We’re the same, kida catch as catch can. But on most evenings, we spend time with both kids. They enjoy singing songs, watching DVDs, playing “chase” around the house, etc. This is before their bedtime. And on the weekends, we usually go out walking around the mall and bring the kids to the play areas.
The weeknights are so hectic, and after the kids go to bed, it’s usually the only time that I have to work on anything creative and the only time my hubby has to do work stuff. *roll eyes*. So family time is family, not couple time.
Megin Hatch // Jan 29, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Sometimes it seems like every night is a family night. I know a lot of it has to do with the fact that my kids are so little and therefore don’t have evening activities yet, so I cherish these nights!
We have dinner together on average 5 days out of 7. I go out one night a week and Rob sometimes has a board meeting or meeting at church- but our dinnertime and evening time is pretty consistent.
That being said, I can definitely see that there are advantages to having a scheduled time to just focus on each other and have fun. Especially when the kids get older and busier. One of the things we are trying to focus on is each child getting more dedicated one on one time with one of us. Time when each of the kids can have time and energy focused directly on them. That is a little harder to do on a consistent basis.
Stu Mark // Jan 29, 2007 at 5:01 pm
I like the idea of Couple Night, but we get that about once or twice a month, so we’re ok. It would be nice if it were once a week!
As for Megin’s comment on consistency, yeah, that’s the tough one. We give our kids one-on-one time, but it’s like a tightrope (especially as we have two kids. I can’t even imagine how the one-on-one would balance with three or four or more!)
But that one-on-one seems just as important, if not more so, than Whole Family time.
Erica // Jan 29, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Great how one on one time has been picked out as the real requirement especially in larger families.
How are you managing the one one one time Megin?
Chantal Hubert // Jan 31, 2007 at 12:42 am
So far, we’re very busy. We have set nights where we have a tonne of stuff to do and other nights where we lounge and chill out. That said, we’re quite close. We eat dinner together every night (at the table, no TV) and catch up then. So far, we don’t feel the need to set aside one night. It might be easy for us since I am a WAHM and my husband is a WAHD.
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