So We’re Not Going to Hell in a Handbasket
Ask any parent out there how things are going and they’d probably tell you that life seems very frantic as they try to juggle parenting, jobs and household chores. Ask these same parents if they are spending enough time with their kids, and the answer would probably be, “No!”
Well that parent would be wrong. Life might be frantic, but today’s parents are spending more time with their children than previous generations.
The rise in child-centered time is just one of the ways the American family is changing. Couples are typically waiting longer to get married and begin having children. Divorce rates are dropping with each generation.
Maybe this will start to throw a cold blanket on the Right’s false cries that families are being destroyed. But then again, maybe not.
Tags: family
I would whole heartedly agree that fathers are spending more time with their children. I would shout loudly though, that both parents spending time w/ a child(ren), is largely relegated to hallmark appearances, (i.e. sporting events, assemblies, teacher conferences, even doctor appointments).The real solid parenting of modeling, values transfer, discussion, goal setting are more mundane moments of chores, sit-down meals, homework/freetime oversight and involvement. A work at home parent, w/ a bluetooth in the ear, a blackberry on the hip, and a FLIP in their hand, no doubt skewed these results. Sorry nemski, this guilt is justified.
Families have very little “facetime.” Now, maybe that’s a neutral thing, but it’s observable. Being in the stands at a swim meet is important, but it’s not the SAME kind of interaction that building Legos together is… and our culture, as a whole, is so overbooked that time spent in the first type of activity far outweighs time spent in the second.
We’ll see where that puts us, i guess.
I hear ya Brooke–“show up’ time in some minds, calculates the same or greater than “show me” time.
Next time, let’s read the link, shall we.
Personally, I spend way too much time with my kids… which is why I dumped them on the Grandparents this week. 😉
Link was read–taking them to school, has changed greatly since 911–big deal–but points on the survey? I know, some of those “just right” schools are quite a hike.
Dinner table–ain’t happening.
Bathing them–someone has to until about age 5
Playing catch in the backyard? What a hoot. Which isolated Sunday afternoon was that? Must have been a black-out, satellite down, and network service interrupted kinda day.
Sorry, the 10-12 hours of daycare, McDonald’s drive thru between enrichment activities, I’ll have the sitter help you w/ that or call Mike’s mom, style of parenting is encroaching my parenting reality now in what I see–but yea, and sure they will buy 3 dozen Joe Corbi pizzas, and ABSOLUTELY will block out time to be there when Mavis gets their 3rd DPT shot at the doctor’s and appropriately ooh and ah and buy Mavis a special toy for being so grown up. Credit is given for some of the strangest things. So yup–more time in the car w/ mom and/or dad–you now–doing all those important, parenting, things.