Right From The Heart 1-Minute DevotionsPrimjer

The Myth Of Quality Time

The May 1997 issue of Newsweek had a cover story about the myth of quality time versus quantity time. Ronald Levant, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, said, "I think quality time is just a way of deluding ourselves into shortchanging our children. Children need vast amounts of parental time and attention. It's an illusion to think that they're going to be on your timetable and that you can say, 'O.K., we've got half an hour, let's get on with it." Levant is saying that the idea that quality of time replaces the quantity of time that so many boomer parents have bought into, is really a myth.

There is no real quality of time unless we have a quantity of time to be with our children during those teachable moments when they're dealing with everyday life. Follow God's will. Invest a quantity of your time with your children, and He'll reward you with a quality relationship that is rich indeed.