Good, Better, Best

  I especially think these ideas are relevant to lots of families:
**Super family activities may be good for children, but they are not always better than one-on-one time with a loving parent.

 **The amount of children-and-parent time absorbed in the good activities of private lessons, team sports, and other school and club activities also needs to be carefully regulated. Otherwise, children will be over scheduled, and parents will be frazzled and frustrated.

 **Parents should act to preserve time for family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, and the other precious togetherness and individual one-on-one time that binds a family together and fixes children’s values on things of eternal worth.

 **Family experts have warned against what they call “the overscheduling of children.” In the last generation children are far busier and families spend far less time together. Among many measures of this disturbing trend are the reports that structured sports time has doubled, but children’s free time has declined by 12 hours per week, and unstructured outdoor activities have fallen by 50 percent.

 **The time a family spends together “eating meals at home [is] the strongest predictor of children’s academic achievement and psychological adjustment.

 **Team sports and technology toys like video games and the Internet are already winning away the time of our children and youth. Surfing the Internet is not better than serving the Lord or strengthening the family.

I, for one, am going to look at my activities and see which ones are good, better and best.  Then I need to be BRAVE enough to change some of them.  

Today is a good day to look at your family's activities.  Some things you may need to change, and it may mean going against the popular things your friends are doing with their children.  But be BRAVE.  Choose the BEST!

Thanks for reading,

Cathy

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