newspaper

Reading a news article together and discussing it as a family is a great way to spend some time as a family. You can find anything that would capture the interest of your family, whether young or old. Finding something to stimulate conversation will help build family ties, know what each other is thinking and feeling, and keeps communication lines open. It can help jump start a conversation about serious social issues, can help come up with ideas for other family activities and can help language and social debate skills. This can be done over dinner or in the car or sitting at home. It is a great way to learn more about each other and grow together as a family.

inauguration

I hope many families were able to watch the inauguration together. What an opportunity for teachable moments to arise. From government/politics, to social issues, to historical items and ideals, to famous people and many other things to talk about and teach our kids about. If you were unable to view it with your family, what a great thing to talk about at dinner tonight and over the next few days. It is important to teach our kids about the world they live in and our values and ideals that we hold close. Though many are bringing the historical aspect to the forefront of this inauguration, I feel that every president's inauguration is an important historical aspect for our country.

library book sale

In our area, several libraries run book sales from time to time. One even does a book sale every month. This is a great way to spend some family time. There are usually books for every age and taste. The sales often have great prices on the books they sell. Here you can find some of your favorite books to bring home and treasure as your own. You might even find some old favorites from childhood to share with your own kids!

Prayer Walk

This is a tradition that we started last year. We did our prayer walk on New Year's Day this year and really enjoyed it. We made several stops at homes throughout our neighborhood to read a passage of scripture and say a prayer over a specific need. We had folks of all ages join in the walk, from 7 to over 60. Not everyone walked the whole route and some only came out at their own homes. But a special night of prayer and need were experienced by everyone who attended any or all of the prayer walk.

going for a visit

We have some friends who do not have kids. Yet they have one of the most fun Christmas trees around! (They actually have more than one!) We began a tradition a few years ago of going to see their tree(s) sometime during the holidays. We have not gone every year but every few years. This year they had gotten a new house, so we wanted to make sure we got to see their tree and their new house.

They had also gotten a huge new tree this year. They decorate with all sorts of fun ornaments including Disney characters, Wizard of Oz, Looney Tunes, Harry Potter and Barbie. The husband also has a Star Wars/Star Trek tree in his office. It is always fun for us and the kids to see and hear their assortment of ornaments and it's fun for our friends to show them off. They have gotten so many that they have had to "retire" some of their older ones!