family dinners

I have read time and again how important it is to have regular family dinners together. Meals where everyone is present and seated together. These meals may not actually be dinner and they may not be every day. But making them a regular part of the family routine is healthy for everyone. There are many reasons why, and you can read them in many sources. But sometimes it is hard to make family meals work. Some good ideas can be to have two or three times a week set aside for family meals, no interruptions. Having a meal together for breakfast can achieve the same goal. Or even when worse comes to worse, eating together out or even in the car on the way to the next event, or at the next event at least stopping for a few minutes to sit together and share a meal, time and conversation is a perfect family bond-building activity.

decorating the tree

Sometimes family traditions are hard to change. As the time drew near this year to decorate the Christmas tree, I told my daughter to go ahead and put her ornaments on and when her brother got home from college he could add his if he wanted. She refused saying that she would just wait til he got home to do hers; that is just the way it is supposed to be! So for now our Christmas tree stands bare with nothing but lights. And there is a family night that awaits us to decorate the tree.

surprise

Many people think that surprises are good. And maybe a family surprise can be pulled off and even enjoyed. After a family surprise this weekend in which I did not respond with the best composure, I am not sure that all surprises are in order, even if done with the best of intentions. I hope that in the future I will handle the surprises which I face with more composure and grace than I did this weekend.

pride

One thing that sometimes gets overlooked is telling our kids how proud we are of them. My husband called me today to tell me about something our son, who is away at college, did for someone last week that was really an encouragement. We would never have known about it if this lady did not tell my husband about it. My husband then told me how proud he was that our son did that. I told my husband to be sure and tell our son. He said of course he would. I know that kids love to feel their parents' pride and it is an important aspect of the family. It's never a bad time to tell kids of your pride for them.

family meals

In spite of all the flak kids give parents about so many things, including sitting down together for family meals, today I was reassured by a mental health professional that it is very important for families to do this, ideally once a day. It allows time for reconnection, communication, involvement, a feeling of belonging and a chance to model and observe appropriate behaviors. Even though our kids would at times only come to the table begrudgingly, I am glad to hear that this ideal is still endorsed by professionals!

Technology Loving Parents

Thanks for the article from Laura Ryan

I think I have the coolest parents. When I was a kid, that statement would have been difficult to make. No one thinks they have cool parents. However, now that I am grown up I realize how cool my parents were and are. They were one of the first people to own a computer. When I was little, I didn’t even know how cool that was. They were also one of the first people to get DIRECT TV. And to top it off, they were also the first to get a cell phone. Looking back it is amazing how quickly my parents accepted technology. They were able to see what items would be fads and which items were here to stay. To this day, they are still trying new things and having the coolest gadgets. Most parents go to their kids for advice on computers and such, but I go to my parents. I look back on my childhood and realize I was a lucky kid to have had some of the coolest parents around and I still am.

debrief and reminisce

Our family has always had a tradition of debriefing and reminiscing events. And large historic events are especially good times to debrief and reminisce. I posted this idea on another blog but it fits well with family night activities:


As today is an important day for Americans to remember those who have fallen in recent history, it is important to teach the younger generation why it's important to remember. Sometimes history seems like such a dull thing of the past to kids. Teaching them now about an historic event that we and many of them have lived through puts the human touch, emotion, and passion into history. It is important to impart not only information but values and lessons learned from such historic events. Today is a great day to remember why it's so important to remember and share such events.