Unfortunately, I too was raised with limited “family time.†My mother was single (divorced) and raising me and my brother working two (and the occasional third) job(s). I know it was not your fault mom; it’s just the way it was at the time.
Today it seems family time isn’t lost so much to a second job but to activities formulated to attack boredom in their children. These, as we all know can - and does - go to extremes. You know the families: Soccer, three times a week, jazz, tap dance and gymnastics filling any other void that might present itself.
I hate to admit it, but I am finding myself in the role of chauffeur more and more these days. Parents are increasingly spending their family time in the car running one kid here and the other kid(s) over there. “Free Time†is being lost to one activity after another, but unfortunately, not with the family.
Or worse yet, the parent(s) might feel the need (or have the need) to work 50-60 hours a week leaving no time for the family. Well, this is the group I fall into; and my feeling is this has got to stop! Or at least change…..
My job in the Air Force continually takes me away from my family and I want to change that. I want to spend more time with my husband and children. That’s precisely why I started Mommies Helping Soap and Candle Company. I started a business that will create jobs and enable me to see my children grow up instead of being deployed half way around the world. I want to be there when they wake up in the morning and for story time before bed.
What we’ve done at MommiesHelping.com is attempt to create a small slice of “Family Time.†By this I mean were are in the process of formulating Soap, Lotion and Lip Balm making kits that can be purchased and created by members of the family on a rainy weekend afternoon. They are simple, they work and they give the creators a sense of pride and ownership. Then all one has left to do is create their own labels such as “The Smith’s Rainy Day Lip Balm Creation†or whatever else you might come up with. Hopefully, through creating these usable projects you all will create lasting memories of a successful afternoon spent together enjoying quality “Family Time.†Stay tuned, soon we will announce the availability of this much anticipated product(s).
In the meantime, we’d love to hear anyone else’s “lost family time†stories. Anyone else out there who has similar stories, please share them in this blog. We’d love to exchange ideas and experiences - not to mention cleaver ways to resolve this daily dilemma of an over abundance of stimuli and the family.
Best,
- Karen Crook, owner
Mommies Helping Soap & Candle Company
“Careful…. It’s Contagious.â€
We have done our first 2 shows, in 
