The essence of a healthy happy family is in how they treat each other. This means that for them to spend time together as a family does not need to be expensive or a catastrophic event of any proportions at all. It is in the simple activities, these which we often take for granted, that we can connect with one another again. Try these timeless activities to rediscover your family and build a healthy happy family.
Build a healthy family by eating together. Families that eat together, stay together. By sharing a meal you create a time to relax, interact and enjoy your family’s presence. Include all family members in the process of preparing meals as well, and to set the table and to clean up afterwards. If this proves to be impossible, then find a different time to gather, instead of dinner make time for a late light dessert at a later time in the evening. At times we put so much emphasis on the preparation of the meal and the cleaning up afterwards, that the actual meal time is completely neglected. To prepare meals in advance are a good way to ease the evening scramble and to help keep the focus on family time. If the budget allows take the entire family out to dinner at least once a month, and let someone else worry about the cooking and cleaning so the entire family can sit back and relax and enjoy the evening and the meal. Dinner time is a perfect time to build a healthy happy family.
Families who sit and eat together tend to have lasting positive effects on children. It also has the ability to have children participate in conversation, to listen attentively, and to have patience and good manners. These qualities can be reinforced by members that are waiting for everyone to be served before eating and remaining at the table until everyone is through eating. Meal time is a fun time, and parents should be in a good mood and not let they day’s issues and stresses weigh down meal time. A meal time spend with the entire family, is quality time that the family spends together, and this helps to build a healthy family.
Play together, families that play together stay together. Just like eating together does, playing games together also brings the family closer together in an interactive and fun setting. For this you can use board games, guessing games, or even helping your children to color in or play with their toys. It may not be your idea of having fun, but the time spend with the family and the children are precious to them, and well worth it. And if your family is more of an adventurous one, then organize family outings and activities such as camping, bushwalking and outdoor games to play. Quality family time that is spend together playing is time invested to build a healthy happy family.
Walk as a family together to build a healthy family. By participating in sport is a good way for the family to spend time together and to also keep fit while you are at it. Walking is a simple and inexpensive sport, and a great way to get some exercise, that the entire family can and will enjoy. Incorporate walking together into your daily routine by walking the children to school or by taking a walk around the block just for the fun of it. Expand the range of the family walks by trying nature trails in parks, and by taking trips to interesting locations.
Use the power of ritual. In the context of the family rituals can be very meaningful, though rituals may seem rigid at times. They bring family members together because they are repeated over and over again over time. A healthy happy family has meaningful rituals and is not stressed out by them at all. Such a ritual could be taking walks, playing tennis on a Saturday or just going on a family outing every weekend. Find some ritual that every family member can enjoy.
Some points to remember when you build a healthy happy family are to make sure to make time for your family. No person ever lay on their death bed and wished that they spend more time at work. Make all family activities fun, not formal. And be creative with whatever you as a family do together. It is not the money that brings a family together, it is your ideas and creative activities and the time spend together that would build a healthy happy family.
Never ever should we forget that a healthy happy family is the most important unit in society, it is worth our time.