Quality Time Versus Quantity Time: Why Modern Parents Need to Switch Off Their Phones

What does it mean to create meaningful bonds within your family unit? For staters, it is not simply about spending time with your spouse and children. What you do with the time you share and the conversations you have is more important than the amount of time you spend with your family.

Aug. 7, 2014 Lifehack

As I race from the school run to the babysitter and from ballet lessons to football practice, my phone is ringing constantly and I know that I have at least 40 e-mails and phone calls to return. But Friday is my day with the kids so I pretend to ignore all this work at least until I am sitting at the sidelines of a football game. Then I pull out my smartphone and get some things done. Nobody knows the difference, right? Sure, I saw the goal you scored.

Then on the way home from the game, we stop for a quick bite at a fast food joint as a treat to us all on our only proper day together. When Im there and the kids are talking amongst themselves, I munch on my burger, sip my Diet Coke and return a few more e-mails. Everybodys happy. I have gotten all my jobs done. I have gotten the kids from all the point As to all the point Bs. We have had fun. We have eaten. This is the way life is now, right? Maybe, but its not how it should be. Multiple research studies are now showing that these habits are not conducive to our childrens academic success, intellectual development, social and emotional skills and much more.