A Message from Dr. David Nelson

We work hard to give our children everything we can financially. But how hard are we working to show our children how much they mean to us by simply spending time with them?

My mother used to say that you can tell what's important to a person by looking at where they spend their time and their money. So it's worth asking: how much time do we actually spend with our kids? If it's one hour a week, is that quality time? If it's two hours, is that quality time? What does "quality time" really mean?

Quality time is time spent modeling what it looks like to be a healthy, thoughtful adult — showing our children, through our actions, what education and lifelong learning look like, what kindness, patience, and understanding look like, how to set and pursue goals, how to balance work and family, how to hold onto faith, and how to nurture a strong relationship with a spouse or partner.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day. We all have to sleep. Most of us have to work, clean the house, do laundry, put food on the table, shuttle kids from place to place, go to church, and keep up with the bills. It's a lot. But somewhere in the honest accounting of our time, it's worth asking: do we spend more time on our own social media accounts than we do with our children? Do we spend more time taking care of the house than we do with our children? If we were to truly account for each hour of our day, what assumptions could be drawn about where our priorities are based on where our time is spent?

When we do spend time with our kids, what are we showing them matters? Because whether we realize it or not, we are our children's biggest example — of what to do in life, and what not to do.

Let's be conscientious about the role model we're setting for our own kids. Whatever time we're able to give them, let's make sure it's time that truly counts.