Have you noticed that routine panic is becoming a way of life for today's families? There was a time when a man didn't fret if he missed a bus. He'd just catch the next one. Now, if a fellow misses a section of a revolving door, he's thrown into despair.
But guess who's the inevitable loser from this breathless lifestyle? It's the little guy who's leaning against the wall with his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans.
He misses his father during the long day and he tags around after him at night saying: "Play soccer, Dad!" But Dad's too tired. Besides he has a briefcase full of work to be done. Mum had promised to take him to the park this afternoon but then she had to go to a school meeting at the last minute. So, the lad gets the message. His folks are busy again. (He drifts into the living room and watches two hours of pointless cartoons on television.)
Children just don't fit into a to-do list very well. It takes time to introduce them to good books. It takes time to listen once more to the bruised knee episode from the playground and talk about the bird with the broken wing.
These are the building blocks of esteem held together with the mortar of love. But they seldom materialise amid busy time tables. Instead, crowded lives produce fatigue, fatigue produces irritability, and irritability produces indifference. There simply has to be a better way.
Article by Dr James Dobson. His column, Focus on the Family appears daily in the Today papers...
07 April 2007
02 April 2007
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