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October 29, 2004
Friday Night, Family Night
It's finally here...Friday, the day of the week many of us eagerly await. We normally leave the office a little early, have plans for a night out on the town, or pizza and a movie, or an early start on that much needed yard work. I would like to propose something different.
Instead of making Friday nights, time away from our children let's start making it quality time with our children. Friday night is in a way the beginning of our leisure time...our beloved weekend. I believe the best way to develop genuine unity in the home is to make the family first in all things. So at the beginning of our time of leisure we should celebrate as a family. There are several reasons for doing this:
1) It teaches your children the value of leisure. Joseph Pieper in his book entitled Leisure: The Basis of Culture wrote:
The soul of leisure, it can be said, lies in "celebration." Celebration is the point at which the three elements of leisure come to a focus: relaxation, effortlessness, and superiority of "active leisure" to all functions. - pg. 56
Therefore in making Friday night a "Family night," we teach our children that, at the end of a week of work and toil, we relax together, we lay aside our labors, we place importance of spending down time together. This leisure must be "active" as Pieper says, it must be a celebration. Friday night should be fun!
2) It teaches your children that time together, as a family, is important. If your children understand that Friday night is when the family gets together it will change their way of thinking. In many families Friday night is the night that the kids go out and that the parents either stay home and relax or go out themselves. I am directly speaking about those families with teenagers. Yet there are those that do the exact opposite. I have especially noticed this with several of the Hispanic families I know. Everyone gets together on Friday night for a meal, fellowship, and fun. Even the teenagers stay at home...and like it! We need to get back to this type of living...the home should be the nucleus of life and love.
3) It teaches all of us to be better social beings. My parents homeschooled all four of my younger brothers. My sister and I went to public school. My parents were told by friends and family alike that homeschooling would hurt my brothers social skills. Yet our time together as family did more for all of us, socially speaking, than any activity outside the home. We learned to agree to disagree, to negotiate, to work through problems, and, most importantly, we learned to love unconditionally. These values and virtues can best be formed by making time for the family to be together. Of course, many families spend Saturday mornings together doing chores or going to a family member's sporting event, but down time together is important too. In our home, six kids trying to decide which movie we were going to watch on a Friday night required masterful social skills :-) Many negotiations and compromises were made on those nights! We would also play games together; who was what color game piece or who went first required discussion and agreement. My parents instilled all of these qualities in us by making us spend time together and by making it fun.
So order that pizza, break out the cards, put in that favorite family movie, lay back and relax with your children and spouse beside you. Make Friday night a "Family Night"!
May the Holy Family continue to bless and guide you and your family. Amen.
Posted by HolyFamily at October 29, 2004 10:53 AM
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Comments
This is excellent. Does anyone know of any Catholic resources for Family Fun Nights -- resources to help you teach your children the Catholic faith through fun, games, and family togetherness? There are lots of Protestant resources like this, but, being a new Catholic convert, I don't know where to go for similar resources that teach from a Catholic perspective.
Posted by: Laura Peratt at September 10, 2006 11:46 PM
