I’m a big sci-fi nut. Far more than any realistic or non-fiction storylines, I enjoy books, movies and shows that take place in alternate realities or on other planets. I own some sci-fi DVDs, but I’m pretty selective about the ones that I choose to purchase — mostly because I don’t have the time to watch movies all that often. I buy DVDs of movies that I know I will want to keep as a personal library. The same goes with books. Most titles I read can go on the Kindle for convenience. But if I really love a book, I purchase it in hardcover and place it on the bookshelf.

The new Star Wars movie is coming out soon, and I’m pretty excited about it. Now that the release date is near, I have a good excuse to sit down and get all couch potato-ey. I own all the Star Wars DVDs, and I’ve been threatening my family with a Star Wars marathon for a while. It hasn’t been easy finding a time that works with everyone’s schedules, but last week, spontaneity was on my side. I ordered delivery pizza and we watched Star Wars IV together. Our night was completely unplanned, unscripted, and fantastic; lines were quoted, pizza and soda pop inhaled, and good memories created.

My family is small – there are only three of us. You’d think that it would be easy to find the time to be together for fun or conversation, but it isn’t. One of us either has class, work, or sleep needs, when the other two are free. I’ve tried to schedule family nights before, but it doesn’t work well. In fact, the more I try to schedule something, the less likely that it will occur. Spontaneity, however, always results in better family time outcomes; the less I plan, the more likely it will all work out, and we will spend time together having fun.

It was the same way when I was a child. Again, there were only three of us (I’m an only child), and we were rarely all at home at the same time. Oddly, much of our family time was spent going to grocery stores. My parents and I could spend full weekend days going to two or three different supermarkets. We’d look at unknown food products and imagine the recipes we could create with these different items. Sometimes we bought new foods and actually tried our ideas out, but most of the time we bought the same old stuff, and kept dreaming about exotic concoctions. Family time in the grocery aisle was unplanned, unscripted, and always fun.

Message of the Day: Quality family time doesn’t have to be a huge, scripted event. It’s the small and spontaneous events that we remember the most fondly.