Knights of Columbus taking away from family

[Nechasin]

I have recently joined the KofC and I am having issues attending hardly any events because my wife feels that it is taking my time away from her and the kids. My kids of 3 and 5 so they are not old enough to be able to help at the events. I want advice on what I can do to convince my wife that she and the kids are first, while still be able to attend 1 or 2 events a month.

 

[Della]

If your wife feels this strongly about your involvement then just go to the meetings once a month and only do one big event per year until your children are older. Right now, with kids at home your wife is still very attached to being with them most of the time. That will change when they get into school and her daily routine doesn’t revolve around the kids quite so much. You can believe me on this because my dh has been involved with the Knights for many years and has held various offices including Grand Knight of his council. They will want to get you as involved as possible because like any group there are always a core of people who do mostly everything, so they want more people for their activities. But, your family life does come first, so just get involved as much as is comfortable for your situation and do more if and when you have the time for it.

 

[Island_Oak]

Easy…make sure you take the kids once or twice a month and send your wife out with her friends for the evening and you shouldn’t have any further problems!

 

[puzzleannie]

what else are you doing besides KC that takes away from family time? golf, fishing, hobby, work overtime, march madness etc.

 

[otm]

There aren’t really enough facts in the original post to be able to answer. What is a weekly and monthly schedule like? What is your work schedule like? Do you have an 8 - 5 job and are home every evening and every weekend? Do you have any hobbies? If so, how much time do you spend on them in a week/month? Does your work take you away from home overnight? If so, how often in a month are you gone, and for how long?

If this is the only activity that you engage in in a month without the family, and all other evenings and weekneds you are home with your family, then I would suggest the following: ask your wife in a nice way if you can have your pants back, as she seems to be wearing them.

If, however, this is just one more thing that takes you away from family, and you are gone several (that is, more than 2, but not many) nights each week, then perhaps you need to take a look at your schedule and cut some things or re-arrange them.

 

[ConcernCatholic]

If you are not an officer, you should have a lot of leeway in how much you do or do not attend activities and meetings. My husband is the financial secretary of his council so he has to attend all of the meetings. As far as other activities go, he does not have to attend. His fellow brethren are very understanding of his inability to be as active as he would like. I would suggest that you take your wife and children to as many activities are permissable with little ones and forego the rest. Also, if they do not have any activities that are family friendly, you might recommend that they do more family friendly activities. I have a 1 and 4 year old that I take with me to all of the activities. If it is something that we can’t take the little ones too, then we usually don’t go.

The other thing you might want to do is educate your wife on how much charitable work and good the Knights do. I was a little reluctant about his involvement until he showed me just how much good the Knights do. His council recently donated a bunch of money to the youth group so they could go on a retreat, they sponsor scholarships, they have donated money towards the upkeep of the parish, and a bunch of other really worth while causes. By sharing my husband with the Knights, I am helping make the world a better place. Your wife might be forgiving if she knew a little more about them.