Are you missing that crucial time?
A recent report stated that around 1 in 5 families spend less than an hour a day together and rely on phones and texts to keep in touch. Does this sound familiar? Is there anything wrong with this?
Family life has undergone dramatic change in the last few years whereby the traditional family around the table for an evening meal has become less and less common. With most adults working and children having ever increasing social lives themselves, the home becomes a mere base with the occupants passing each other in the kitchen.
Communication is becoming more fragmented, reduced sometimes to a text , a note on the fridge, Inbox on Facebook. There are running jokes about siblings talking to each other on Facebook when they are in the same room or parents texting their children in their bedrooms telling them to come down for their meal.
Just because it is different from our childhood doesn’t make it bad. But what are the further implications? Do you accept this as the status quo? Or do you make quality time for each other? Is your family unit less communicative, more distant or actually closer as a result of modern lifestyles? Time will tell and it is certainly an interesting topic for discussion.
Whatever the school of thought, designating at least one night for family such as movie night for example or date night for your partner, or maybe go for walks at weekends to get away from distractions is surely a must.
Like everything else in life moderation is the key. We are in a new millennium and life is changing rapidly, it is up to us to maintain family unity. It is ironic that in an age where communication is so easy, instant messaging, Skype, Facebook, text & phone, that sometimes we never feel more alone or isolated from our loved ones.
Using technology to keep in touch should not replace regular face to face in depth talking, or time spent together just simply being.
