Family Ties

Nope - this post has nothing to do with the 80's sitcom of the same name - but I thought you'd like to see the picture anyways.

On Sunday I had what most would call a nice little afternoon, as the other male members of my family and I carried out what has all of the sudden become a regular thing - a family golf outing. And for those keeping score at home, this guy hit a solid 54... on nine holes.

Do the math - that's REALLY bad.

If you would have asked me three years ago what I thought of a family that had a golf outing every year as a means of spending quality time together, I undoubtedly would have scoffed and poked fun (as I do). But the day got me thinking about family time in general, and how every family defines themselves by what they do when they're together.

For my family, which I would classify as pretty close by the way, we've got the following:

- Eating
- Watching a baseball or football game
- Playing Scattergories, Scrabble or Yahtzee
- Eating
- Arguing about whether Oprah is actually a good person or just a PR machine
- Shopping
- Eating

Is the picture becoming clear yet? We love us some food. With butter. And sugar. And salt.

We define ourselves as a big, food loving family. It bonds us, it makes us competitive (my wife is the current Pecan Pie champion - don't even step), it gives us a conversation piece. But to be honest, all but a few of us could stand to lose a few pounds (myself included).

So where does that leave me? Trying to find a happy median I suppose. I think we can pull off being the food-obsessed, tight-knit group we've always been, but with a dash of "let's try to be a little healthy" for good measure.

Risking the embarrassment of no one commenting here, how about you? What defines your family? I would love to hear how others are doing it.

One thing is for sure - the situation brings to mind a few family movies that are worth browsing below.







So long for now - See you at 4 p.m. for The Ride Home.