These days families just don’t spend the same quality time together as they used to. Its because of this that kids aren’t getting the same level of personal attention and love that their parents did before the internet and access to different electronics came into play. This isn’t a good thing, because it can result in several consequences. Here’s a few of them:
* Kids can grow up believing that family time isn’t really important. This means that even when they go away to college they’ll be reluctant to come home. They might take a similar approach one day when they have a family of their own. This will make them a bad mother or father. Family time is a way to build a stronger bond and feel more open to share personal stuff with each other that you couldn’t share with anyone else.
* Your family can grow apart. What this means is that people can start to feel like others in the family don’t care about them all that much. As a result they’ll seek to create defacto families outside of their biological one. This can mean over relying on friends or falling in with the wrong crowd just to feel a sense of belonging. It can lead down some dangerous roads.
We know that family time can be hard to have these days, because people are just so busy. There’s work, school and other obligations. However, you’d be surprised at how much family time you can get in if you just make the commitment to doing it. Here are some simple things you can do.
* Make the time to eat a meal together at least a few times a week. It can be breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can set a day or two when the family gets together to go out or something for dinner. This time is very important, because at dinner a lot of discussions take place and this can be the perfect time for people to share problems they might be having.
* Do some chores together. Sure, people don’t like doing chores, but they can still be a good way to bond. If you have smaller kids this is the perfect chance for you to spend time with them. It can also make kids look forward to doing chores if they feel this is a good time to have all of your attention.
* Play games together. Having a family games night is important and its one of the best ways to just let loose and enjoy each others company. It doesn’t really matter what the game is, but it should be appropriate to everyone that would be involved.
Maximizing family time is all about you being able to get the most out of the little time you are able to spend with each other. This means talking, sharing and connecting. The activities listed above can definitely serve as a means to help do this and then some. Don’t rule any of them out.
