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Watching
Sunsets
By Dr. Peter Nieman Over the past
16-months I have had the privilege and opportunity to share with the visitors to
this web site, specific medical advice and facts about keeping children healthy. Today, I want to
talk about something that is based on common sense more than science per se
---the importance of deliberately making the time to get to know our children
better. Over the past two
weeks I’ve had a soul-searching experience of being with my four children
every hour of the day. Taking them with us on a vacation to sunny Mexico
confirmed a valuable truth: If one really wants to get better at anything, there
are no short cuts; nurturing true growth takes time. Unfortunately
many parents are so busy trying to make ends meet that they have little time
left to be with their kids. Best-selling author, Josh McDowell, commented that
love is spelled T-I-M-E. How true that is. The more one
learns about what makes one’s children “tick” the better one can meet
their needs, anticipate their many moods and develop their talents. Some dynamic
adults survived a childhood void of parental support. I know of a man in his
sixties--- well-respected and deeply influential world-wide--- who tells a story
of how his dad always wore a suit, but never attended his Friday night games
played under the bright spotlights of a Texas football stadium. To this day it
bothers him deeply. However, his faith in God and a resilient personality have
kept him from becoming bitter. Not all adults
are so fortunate……I read somewhere that when prisoners were allowed to send
cards to their mothers on Mother’s Day, the company who donated the cards ran
out of supplies. The Hallmark Company then decided to learn form that
experience. On Father’s Day they had twice as many cards ready to be send to
fathers. This time they
were even more surprised. Only one prisoner requested a card. The story
reminded me that fathers, often the busiest parent in the family, need to be
extra careful in finding the time to be with their children. A study from
Columbia University in New York City revealed that when fathers and their sons
were close, emotionally and relationally, the risk of the son developing a drug
addiction, ending up in jail, plummeted to less than 0.5 %; when the
relationship between father and son was bad, the risk climbed well into the
double digits. As I walked on
the beach over the past few days with my kids and admired the sunset over the
Pacific Ocean, I thought of these points:
Just
writing these words make me realize I have to end now—there are four kids
waiting for me to take them outside for fresh air; for a walk on the ocean
shore’s soft sands. There we will look, together, at a sinking sun
silhouetting the palm trees swaying in the evening’s gentle breeze.
About Dr. Peter Nieman Dr. Peter Nieman has been
practicing as a specialist with children for more than twenty years and has been
a pediatrician in Alberta since 1987. In addition to his medical experience, he
is also a parent who recognizes the challenges of raising healthy children. Dr. Peter Nieman obtained his
undergraduate degree at Tygerberg Hospital in Capetown, South Africa in 1979. He
moved to Calgary in 1983 and completed his residency at Alberta Children's
Hospital. In 1987, Dr. Nieman became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Canada (Pediatrics). Dr. Peter Nieman is a pediatrician
at Alberta Children’s Hospital and Rockyview General Hospital, as well as a
member of the Alberta Pediatric Association, the Canadian Pediatric Society and
the American Academy of Pediatrics. He currently serves on the National Advisory
Committee on Physical Activity and Healthy Active Living for Children and Youth
and the Canadian Pediatric Society's Psychosocial Committee. He has been part of
the Obesity Management and Prevention Committee of the Alberta Medical
Association and sat on the Academic Advisory Board of the National Foundation
for Family Research and Education. Dr. Nieman teaches as a Clinical Assistant
Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Calgary and is a
regular medical contributor to newspapers and radio and television broadcasts. Dr. Peter Nieman has completed 38
marathons, including two Boston Marathons. Dr. Nieman is also Husband and father
of four young children. Dr. Nieman runs HealthyKids.ca, an online service dedicated to helping concerned parents raise healthy children. DLTK visitors are entitled to a complimentary one-year subscription to HealthyKids.ca by using the coupon code: DLTK. |
