Family Quiet Times

Several excuses are already in your mind. If your child has a short attention span then it is up to you to train the span of their attention. Don't start with forty-five minutes but with ten one month, 20 the next, and so on. Remember, you decide what habits your children learn, not them. Remember too, you are not giving them habits that they necessarily enjoy but that are necessary for the inner-life-skills that one day they may reflect back on with joy. (No one likes having to save their money until they graduate with a fortune.)

Good habits of the home come hard. We fight against an enemy that would have us be hopeless, defeated little bands of ogres glued forever to a TV or computer screen. One habit that I am currently trying to build into my family's day is a 45 min period of quiet after which we do the normal family worship.

Quietude is a virtue. "Where words are many, sin is not absent" (Prov) and the same may be true for activity. During this time Julie and I do some kind of personal Bible study individually. I don't ask the children to do this but I ask them to not talk during this period, to stay in one place, and to do something reflective such as a puzzle, a book, a drawing, etc. As they grow mentally, I will have them do more wholistic things suited to their abilities.

What this does is nuture obedience, a habit of stillness, and a habit of reflection. Quietness is not easy even though it is good and fulfilling. So it takes committment and accountability. I have hit 20% in my attempts over the last month to show my own struggle with it but I am determined to weekly up this percentage.

Another excuse may be time. Let me suggest that you do not start with holding yourself accountable to the forty-five minute quiet time at first. Instead, set a goal to reduce over the next four weeks your schedule for that period of the day. Plan instead to do something different like watch the news. This is much more motivating for getting you to find the room to do something in a 45 min time slot. After a month, kick the TV or whatever, and replace that time slot with quiet. This is a psychological trick that helps you cope with the change.