Family Time

If you feel like you've been spending less time with your family, you're not alone.

National studies show that the number of family dinners is down by a third over the past 20 years, and family vacations have decreased by 28 percent.

On The Early Show Bill Doherty, the co-author of "Putting Family First: Successful Strategies For Reclaiming Family Life In A Hurry-Up World," gives some tips on how to get back that time.

Doherty says that he and Barbara Z. Carlson observed this trend in their own families and community. So they took action and founded Family Life First, an organization committed to helping parents reclaim family time.

In their book they wrote realistic ways to regain valuable family connections and embark on more balanced, meaningful relationships at home.

He says that the book emphasizes that parents and children determine family time, limit extra-curricular activities and make time for marriage.

An epidemic of overscheduled kids is part of the problem, says Doherty. It's not the parents' fault to want the best for their kids but he believes the family should have a healthy balance.

He says parents are rolling their kids into classes at 6 months and going all the way through high school, so kids are burned out when they get to college. This generation, he emphasizes is living a rat race where busy becomes a status symbol.

Doherty says he wants "Putting Family First" is to restore a sense of fulfillment, fun, and security to the family once again.