Comments on: Good or Bad: Weekly Family Night

By: Chantal Hubert

Chantal Hubert — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:42:55 +0000

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.

By: Erica

Erica — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:14:07 +0000

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?

By: Stu Mark

Stu Mark — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:01:35 +0000

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.

By: Megin Hatch

Megin Hatch — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:41:01 +0000

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.

By: Annie

Annie — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 22:41:40 +0000

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.

By: Stu Mark

Stu Mark — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 21:53:25 +0000

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.