I know the summer is part way over, but I have a great idea for you! Make family time a priority. Seems simple enough? Wrong! Everyday life is busy. Summer life is even busier.
This summer is a great time to start making family time a priority for your family. Amy Powell, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, suggests five ways to make family time a priority.
- Schedule Regular Family Time – Grab your family calendar and schedule your family time for this month on everyone’s calendar. Once it’s scheduled, protect it like gold. This means saying no to the last minute birthday party your son gets invited to, saying no to the PTA president who desperately needs you to manage the book fair, and saying no to your boss when she asks you to work late.
- Plan It – Nothing ruins a family outing more than waiting until the last minute to figure out what to do. Agree as a family ahead of time what you will do and then make your reservations, print your maps, organize your supplies, and fill your car with gas ahead of time.
- Make it Fun – Discuss together as a family what fun things everyone would like to do. Make sure everyone’s voice is heard and negotiate differences. If time or money is a concern, then it may be a good idea for the parents to come up with a pre-approved list from which the kids can choose.
- Turn Off the TV, Video Games, and Computer – Nothing takes away from quality family time like a TV blaring in the background. Give your family a chance to connect without all the background noise and you will be amazed at the things you learn and how much you laugh.
- Make it a Priority – This is the hardest thing for many families to do, but if you can accomplish this everything else will be much easier.
The most precious gift we can give our family is time. Time allows a family to create the safety and support necessary to form the basis of an effective relationship. Kids, teens and children thrive on personal attention from mom, dad, grandparents, and mentors. Enjoy these times! They are precious and will be remembered for a lifetime.
Resources:
Amy, P. (n.d.). Retrieved 2015, from http://www.amypowellmft.com/pdf/5_schedule quality time.pdf