Together time: The newspapers recently reported a university study which finds that families that eat dinner together on an average of four times a week are much more likely to produce children with extraordinary self-confidence and social maturity. I wonder how much this study cost.

One day years ago, when our son and daughter were in their single digit years, Gail (my wife) summoned us to the kitchen. "I have a proclamation," she said in a determined voice. "I'm alarmed at the way we head in four different directions each day. The church, the schools, the community, and the neighborhood all have big plans for our lives. Because they make their plans before we make ours, theirs tend to win. We're going to lose touch with each other before we know it."

There was truth to this. Every day and weekend, it seemed, one or both kids were involved in church programs, school activities, or neighborhood functions. All very good stuff, please understand: most of it originated and overseen by well-meaning ...