You know we'll have a good time then!

My son turned ten just the other day.
He said, "Thanks for the ball, dad, come on let's play.
Can you teach me to throw?"
I said, "Not today,I got a lot to do."
He said, "That's ok."
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed,
And he said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah.
You know I'm gonna be like him."

I've long since retired and my son's moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kid's got the flu,
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad. It's been sure nice talking to you."
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me. My boy was just like me.


Video-- Harry Chapin, Cat’s in the Cradle

Those two passages above from Chapin’s 1970’s era classic , tell us that not much has changed in the last thirty years. We’re still too busy, we still don’t spend enough time with our families and there doesn’t seem to be much of a change on that pattern on the horizon.

Barring unemployment, it seems that today’s workers have much in common with those that have trudged to work in the past. It's all about the job, from dusk til dawn and maybe beyond.

For all the promise of family friendly employers and technological changes that were supposed to give us more free time, we still keep to the old patterns, in fact we're making things worse. It seems that those lofty ideals for our future were more a work of fiction than of fact.

Stats Canada has been tracking our working hours compared to family hours for the last twenty years and it would seem that instead of declining work hours, we’re spending more time than ever at work. Statistics compiled for the report show that the number of workers who spent long hours on their paid employment increased by about eight percent.

In 1986, about 17 per cent of workers dedicated 10 hours or more to their work, and by 2005 that number had grown to 25 per cent.

Fears are that the ongoing estrangement between parents and families could have serious social concerns over the years. From missing out on family meals, to not having time to supervise homework or out of the home activities, working families are having problems keeping things on a level plain.

The CBC website has a full report on the study, which shows that in the quest for balance between work and home, the teeter totter is decidedly on the side of work.

When it comes to work or families, we’re apparently more than willing to sacrifice time with the family. While some may really, really like their jobs, and may be really, really well paid for them, we have to wonder why this so.

Harry hit it right in the seventies, time is precious. Before you know it the time is gone.