Strengthen Your Family Ties
Read more about: Ask the School Counselor, Family and Friends, Parenting, Work-Life Balance
|
Stumble it! |
Delicious | 
Kirtsy | 
Digg
3
Comments
It’s challenging these days to fit in a lot of “quality family time” with such hectic schedules, but that’s all the more reason why it’s so necessary to strengthen family ties.
One of the simple ways my hubby and I bond with our daughters is to start the day with a “family cuddle.” Our children delight in yelling to each other, “It’s time for family cuddle!!!” Then the five of us pile into our bed. After a few minutes, we “ROTATE!” so each child gets a turn cuddling next to each parent. There is always a lot of giggling involved!
At the end of the day, we all pile into my daughter’s bed (why we switch beds I don’t know) and do family story time. This involves my hubby reading aloud to the three kids and me. We’ve read Charlotte’s Web, James and the Giant Peach and now we’re reading The Hobbit. Not only does it give us another chance to cuddle, it reinforces the importance of reading and acts as a family book club because we like to discuss the books we read.
During the summer, I do “Camp Mommy” for my kids. Each day we have a morning meeting and I share what the “Camp Mommy” activity of the day will be. I even have my kids decorate t-shirts as their camp shirts. I write about Camp Mommy and other activities I do with my kids on my Seasonal Kids Activities blog. One of their favorite activities that makes them feel special is when they get to go to the Camp Mommy Spa. We also strengthen our family ties by having family dance parties, playing games together and going on family outings.
In addition to activities, I also use words to let my children know how special they are. I often ask them “Have I told you lately how much I love you?” Then I respond with a topical reference. Like if we just went out for ice cream, I’ll say, “I love you more than every sprinkle on your ice cream cone and all the sprinkles in the universe!” I also frequently say, “I love you everything about you.”
How do you strengthen your family ties? I’m always looking for more ideas!
I’m a certified School Counselor who works with students on various issues including anger management, social skills, anxiety, divorce, self-esteem, study skills, impulsivity and bullying. If you have any parenting or school issues that you would like me to address, please leave me a comment. I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have in my weekly Ask the School Counselor segment.
Shannon Hutton draws on her experience working full-time, part-time and from home with three kids to blog about the universal challenge of achieving work-life balance. She also uses her Master's in Education and professional experience as a School Counselor to address parenting and school issues in her weekly 
Great way to start & end a day.
Love DAD
I love your “camp mommy” idea! Bonding as a family is so important - and underrated. We assume that our kids get the message we love them, but that can be a costly assumption.
We are very stingy about our kids’ time with friends in the evening and on weekends. That’s Dad’s time. He works all day, so we expect the kids to be home when he’s home. Sometimes they are frustrated by this, but it’s a very strong message that Dad wants to see them and he doesn’t have the luxury of doing so during the work day.
Kelly @ Pass the Torchs last blog post..Whiteboard Code Equals History Lesson