Starting a family is a lot easier than holding it together and this is a lesson that most of us learn too late. It isn’t easy for two people and their children to have a happy life together, unless there’s a significant and pronounced effort being made towards that goal. If you are starting a new family, or if you feel that your family needs a bit of help to get back to its former happier phase, the following three tips might just prove to be crucial.
Eat Together and Talk While Eating
Some of us still believe that people should not talk at the dining table, but it is a missed opportunity. As we all lead busy lives, family meals are important for more than just their nutritional values! Dinners in particular, offer the opportunity for the entire family to share their day with each other, which definitely strengthens the bond. Make sure that everybody eats at least one meal together as often as possible and encourage conversation during the meal. This is particularly important for children.
Plan Family Activities that Engage Everyone
There’s a big difference between family activities and family vacations, although, they can be one and the same if you want them to be. Going on a beautiful vacation in the Caribbean Islands and spending some time with your family can definitely be a bonding experience, but a simple session of Monopoly or playing video games with your spouse and kids can be even more productive in terms of tightening the bonds. In spite of the family vacation being more mainstream and seemingly attractive, chances are that everyone in the family will enjoy the place more than the company. Family gaming sessions on the other hand, involve everyone in one single objective, where they actually enjoy the presence of each other than the game itself. The same applies for outdoor activities as well. Take your children out to camp with you or go on a short trek with the family into the wilderness where there’s less to distract you from each other.
Seek Counselling Fast If You Need to
Consult Family Psychiatry as soon as possible if you sense that anyone in the family is suffering from depression, anxiety, anger issues, etc. It is important to realize that even a single suffering member of the family is often enough to weaken the bonds among everyone. Seek couple’s counseling if you and your spouse are finding yourselves distanced with each other and do it before it’s already too late. If your children seem more withdrawn than before, then there’s definitely an issue there. Talk to them and try to find out what the problem is. A child psychiatrist will help them to open up and even address the underlying problems. The human psychology is complex and problems pertaining to the mind needs to be addressed as soon as possible, before things become too complex to solve quickly. The psychiatrist may talk to everyone in the family at the same time to figure out what interpersonal problems are pushing the family members away from each other.
The most important step to holding a family together is to actually understand each other and not put each member in pre-decided frames. It is only when each adult member of a family understands and accepts the other as an individual that everyone can stay together as a close, happy family.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
Speak Your Mind