First smile….tick, tick, tick…. First steps… tick, tick, tick….First bike ride….tick, tick, tick….First baseball trophy… tick, tick, tick ….First date…tick, tick, tick….and then, just like that, it’s over. Children grow up so quickly and, let’s face it, many of us miss it.

Now I know that the first time you held your little newborn, you didn’t say “precious baby, I am going to ignore you, avoid you, be non-existent in your formative years”. That was not your intention. But when real-life sets in, and the details and preoccupations with the insignificant somehow steal years away, you are left thinking “where did the time go?”

Steve Brock’s dad left when he was seven-years-old. At first, attempts were made for every-other weekend together or sporadic holidays. Eventually, Dad exited all together. Steve reflects, “I personally realized the hole I felt by not having a dad in my life and not having received my father’s guidance and affirmation while growing up.”

When Steve became a father, he wanted to do things differently. “I read all types of parenting books, listened to various fathering authorities, etc…the single piece of information that really jumped out at me is that the day your child is born, you have 6575 days until he or she turns 18 and leaves your home environment – to go to school, to work, to wherever.” Steve continues, “As a parent, you have this fixed window of time to build a value system, leave a legacy, create a heritage and develop a foundation for your relationship with them before they leave the shelter of your home. No matter how wealthy or powerful you become, you can never go back in time.”

So Steve decided to create something to remind himself and others of the limited amount of time we have with our kids. He calls it “Treasured Time”, a clock in the shape of a puzzle piece that includes a timer which counts down the fixed number of days until a child reaches 18. “We’ve chosen a puzzle piece as our inaugural frame design,” Steve explains. “It’s apparent that the missing piece in most children’s lives is time with their dad or mom or both. Further, we’ve designed it in such a way that if you have multiple children, the puzzle pieces fit together representing how that sibling relationship should fit together as well.”

Although the clock is currently in production, he is hoping to have it on the market by Father’s Day, 2009. In the mean time, Steve is developing content for their website which includes parenting ideas and tools to help support busy moms and dads discover engaging ways to spend time with their family throughout those treasured 6575 days.

Steve compares children to wet cement – it is moldable for a period of time. He encourages parents to think about what type of relationship they hope to build and what type of legacy they hope to sustain. He reminds us of a quote from the great Winston Churchill who said,

“There is not doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthen and maintained.”

For more information on “Treasure Time” or Dads-N-Families, check-out www.dad-n-families.com. To contact Steve directly, email him at sbrock@twgglobal.com.