Resolution No. 7

In continuation of our Twelve resolutions today we will share Resolution No. 7.

7. Every day I will spend at least 10 minutes with my family.

                                                                   “A family that dines together stays together ”

                                                                  “ The family is one of nature’s masterpieces “

                                                       “ The family is the school of duties – founded on love “

                                                       “The family is the first essential cell of human society ”

                                                                                “ Family makes a house home “

Most of us are caught up in a hectic whirlwind of activities which start on Monday morning, end on Sunday night and then begin all over again. Time slips by as we rush to complete urgent tasks which relate to juggling jobs, running the household, chauffeuring our children, our parents, relatives and spouses to work, school, appointments and commitments. Yet, we all acknowledge, that spending quality time together is the best way we have to show each other that we care and that our families are important.

How much quality time do you spend as a family? Learn what ‘quality time’ really means, and how you can build stronger bonds with your partner and children.

With an ever-growing list of tasks to accomplish each day, it’s easy to let time with your partner and children slip down your priorities.

Actually spending quality time together is important – it helps our children to feel more confident and secure, builds stronger family bonds and is good for our own emotional health.

What exactly does ‘quality time’ mean? It’s an expression we hear often but is hard to quantify – every family is different, and its meaning will vary from household to household.

For some people it may mean pulling out the board games once a week, for others it’s having in-depth conversations around the dinner table, and for some it may be enjoying a sport together.

Whatever it means to you, it’s essential that you make it a priority for yourself, your relationship and your family.

We love our families and spend so much effort trying to make money to provide them with a comfortable lifestyle — but sometimes we forget that giving our kids our time is more important than providing them with cool clothes or the latest technology trends. Even for older kids — who you’d be pretty hard-pressed to get to admit that they want more attention from their parents and siblings — a good solid family hang has serious benefits.

Another important quality is stability. Quality family time creates a balance in one’s life. You will always know that if you ever need something, your family will always be there for you. With all of the craziness in your life, your family will continue to be the foundation that you can always lean on for support. Not only does quality time create a non-judgmental atmosphere, where one can truly enjoy themselves, but it also creates an atmosphere of trust.

Not only is quality family time with one’s immediate family important, but also with one’s extended family. Having a feeling of acceptance from not only the people you live with every day, but also, from the people you call your family is a wonderful feeling.

How much time should families spend together? That varies from family to family. Families with young children usually spend the most time together because young children need a great deal of physical care and guidance. Families with teenagers may spend less time together because teens naturally want to spend more time with their friends. Single parents need a break from their children and may need more opportunity to enjoy the company of other adults.

Healthy families keep a good balance between “too much” and “not enough” time together. They spend enough time to satisfy all family members. Children learn to bring balance to their lives when they see their parents setting aside time for what they value.

Click here for Why you should spent quality time with family ?

 

  1. It builds self esteem in children – Children who spend time with their parents participating in activities together build a positive sense of self-worth. When children feel that they are valued by their parents, they feel more positive about themselves. Family activities don’t have to be expensive or luxurious to be meaningful. Take a walk together, go for a bike ride, go to park or play any game at home. The important part is just being together and enjoying each other’s company.
  2. It strengthens family bond – Families who share everyday activities together as well as share vacations or daily excursions as a group form strong, emotional ties, share a stronger emotional bond as well as an ability to adapt well to situations as a family. Share your favorite hobbies, sports, books, movies or other favorite activities and build strong family ties for life.
  3. It develops positive behavior – Children and adolescents who spend more time with their parents are less likely to experiment with substances like cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. According to studies,teens who have infrequent family dinners are twice as likely to use tobacco, nearly twice as likely to use alcohol and one and a half times more likely to use drugs. Kids who frequently eat with their families also usually have improved dietary intake compared to those who don’t eat as often with family members.
  4. It creates happy memories – Family time creates warm memories for parents and children alike. Children with happy family memories are more likely to create a loving environment for their own children when they grow up. Learning to work and play as a family unit is one of the best lessons children can be taught so they can develop into competent adults and parents.
  5. It helps parents and children reconnect – Spending time together as a family helps busy parents reconnect with their children. Children tend to share more information about their lives while enjoying an activity with you rather than when you ask them “What did you do today?” It is also a time when life lessons, like sharing, fairness and compassion, can be reinforced without conflict. Children grow and change quickly, so family time is a wonderful time to get to know your child better.
  6. Set aside family time – Don’t just assume it will happen. Just like the meeting you talk about but never book, there’s always a risk it will fall between the cracks. It’s easy to think ‘we see each other all the time, we can do it another time’, but once you fall out of the routine it’s much harder to schedule it back in there. Remember that this is not time you get to opt out of.
  7. Find one-on-one time too – While it’s important to do things as a whole family, it’s also important to find time to spend with individuals – including your partner! So plan date nights together (this can even be a movie once the kids are in bed), and take turns to take one of your children to the park, for example, while your   partner takes the other for a hot chocolate.
  8. Find common ground – It’s a lot easier to spend time together when you are all doing something you enjoy. So take the time to find out what you all like to do – or activities you can do with one of your children on their own. If you work long hours, try to eat breakfast in the morning with them or curl up for a bedtime story – even ten minutes of quality time is better than nothing!
  9. Be present – We’ve all become quite proficient at multi-tasking in our busy lives, but spending quality time with your family means not answering the phone, chatting or checking emails. It means not reading a magazine while you’re watching Tv – we know she can be tedious, but engaging with your child is important! Knowing you are laughing alongside them or asking questions at the end means they feel like you’re a bigger part of something they enjoy.
  1. Be a role model – Don’t forget that your every move is being watched. If family time is important to you, your children are more likely to want to join in. So if you want your child to join in, lead by example! If you spend all your time on the phone during family time, you’re giving them the impression that they can pull out.
  2. Be supportive – It’s hard to watch your children grow up and start to make their own choices, especially when you don’t agree with them. But remember to be supportive – you want your child to know that if they are in trouble they can talk to you. So being there from the beginning means they’re more likely to come to you when they really need your help. Be there no matter what – but remember you don’t always have to say what they want to hear.
  3. Family bonding time – Family bonding time is time the family spends together meaningfully. This is a designated time your family plans to interact with each other over a group of activities or a major fun project. Parents can use this time to relate their childhood to an adolescent just beginning his childhood interactions.
  4. Children are confident – Making a habit of displaying interest in the well being of your spouse and children will make them more likely to consult family members when there are personal problems occurring.
  5. It Helps You Get To Know Each Other Better – Your family is always changing and growing. Most of their thoughts and new beliefs will not even come into your radar if you don’t have some quality family time together. But, during family time, talks about goals, dreams, and important things can come to life, which makes this a unique way to get to know the people in your family.
  6. It Helps You Practice Acceptance And Compassion – Your family is going to express some different views and opinions during family time, and this is a great way to practice acceptance and compassion towards others. Developing these skills will help you when you are having struggles in your relationships. It will help your loved ones feel more valued as the person they are. And, it will strengthen your family bonds even more.
  7. It Gives Everyone A Sense Of Value – Family time makes everyone feel like part of a team. It makes everyone feel as though they are valuable and needed in some aspect, which can help them get through the tougher times in life. Also, your sense of family is something that you can always fall back on when you are struggling with the other relationships in your life.
  8. It Creates Shared Laughter – Laughter is good for everyone’s happiness and health. In fact, laughter can help reduce pain in the body and give clarity in the mind. Laughter is a real medicine and is actually used as a therapy to help people feel better and boost health. And, laughter is known to burn calories at 50 calories per 15 minutes. So a good bout of laughter after dinner could be the exact thing you need to help burn it off.
  9. It occupies your mind – Do you want to forget about a stressful day or stop thinking about something that is worrying you for a while? Family time can help you do that. As you focus on the people in your family and what you are doing, you will be more present in the moment and less focused on the past or the future. Being present is very good for your mental well-being, as well as for your physical well-being.
  10. Unleashes your creative side – It feels good to unleash your creative side after a serious day. Family time is usually spent playing games or having fun, which is all about creativity. The major benefits of creativity include stress relief, gaining self-awareness, and gaining the ability to problem solve. In other words, if you are tackling a problem at work or in your life, spend some time with the family getting creative, experience the benefits, and then go back with a fresh and ready mind.
  11. It Gives You A New Perspective On Your Home – when you all gather in the living room for some family time, your home looks completely different. This is because you are more present and aware of your surroundings, so you notice the feel of your home, the look of it, the way people move in it, and even the smell of it much more. It makes your home feel more like a home
  12. Encourages A Better Path For Kids – Kids benefit from family time in a big way. They also get future benefits, such as less likely to have issues with behavior and less likely to get involved in gangs or in drugs. In other words, kids that spend family time with their loved ones, and get a lot of nurturing during that time, will make better choices for themselves. They have less of a void in their life to fill.
  13. It Gives You A Place To Share Important Things – Family time is a time when you feel connected, and that is when all the beans are spilled because we all want to share our excitement and important thoughts with other people we feel connected to.

 

Click here for Ideas to spend time together –

 

  1. Family night – Choose a night each week that is always family night. Everyone should know what night this is. Keep it scheduled and don’t let anything fall in its place. This is important. Go to a fun place together, movie or go out for dinner. Stay home for a movie night or game night. Talk! Tell each other about your week and your plans.
  2. Family vacation – Have a family vacation at least once a year. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate cruise, although that would be a blast and surely create fond memories! Go camping, hiking, go to amusement parks, or even have a staycation. But do it, spend time together on vacation!
  3. Exercise together – Get outside with your kids! Go enjoy the great outdoors. Go hiking, fishing, boating, or participate in family runs together. Physical activity and sunshine is great for everyone but when you do it together as a family, you build those relationships at the same time.
  4. Read together – Go to the library together. Find a list of great chapter books for whatever age your children are. Reading together makes for great conversation and bonding time. And if a movie was made after the book, go see it together!
  5. Get Artsy – There are some awesome classes and opportunities out there in the city. Go to a museum or an art show. Or just find a simple craft to make at home together. Whatever it is, doing art together makes great memories with your family.
  6. Serve others – Find a way to help someone else as a family. Do you have an elderly neighbor that needs help pulling weeds? Get involve in some social activity. They will learn the value of helping others and doing it together makes a huge difference!
  7. Get in the kitchen – When you make dinner, ask one of your children to help you. This might make the dinner process a little longer, sometimes a lot longer. But if you help your kids get familiar in the kitchen when they are younger, it will be easier for them later on; they might even thank you for it someday.
  8. School Events – Attend school events together
  9. Shopping – Shopping with the family can make a simple chore an event.
  10. Watching together – Go to the theater, watch television, or rent movies. By watching some shows your child enjoys, you will learn more about him/her and can use the topics brought up for more interesting discussions.
  11. Religious activities – Perform religious activities together on holidays.
  12. Homework – If parents can spend positive time with their children without conflict, this can be a good bonding experience where the school work itself is just a means to the end.
  13. Longer life – Organise family get-togethers as often as possible to reap the health benefits.
  14. Healthier lifestyle – Spend time with optimistic and health-conscious family members if your lifestyle is less than ideal.
  15. Less Stress – Talk about your worries with anyone in the family, you have a close relationship with – if not your mother then your partner, for instance – to help you feel more at ease.
  16. Less isolation – Enjoy the benefits of family relationships and try organising more time with your partner, children and members of your extended family if you’re feeling isolated.
  17. More confident kids – Persuade your partner and children to unplug themselves from their digital devices and arrange activities you can all do and enjoy together as often as possible.
  18. Create new traditions – Don’t wait for holidays or vacations to connect. Sunday breakfast, Friday game night, weekend shopping, morning walk, or gardening can bring the family together.Whatever tradition you choose, make sure everyone, including parents, honors a set time. Everyone should show up and unplug. No texting, no Facebook, and no TV. “Don’t let your schedule run you,”
  19. Have dinner – Eating dinner as a family allows you to be a part of their daily conversations and to answer any questions they may have come across during the day when you were apart.
  20. Fix things together – Fixing things together allows you to plan for the project and also gives you lots of time to interact.
  21. After dinner walks – The act of walking whilst you talk may actually make it easier for children to bring up difficult topics or problems they face because they have something else (like walking) to focus on when they bring these subjects up.
  22. Share family stories – Find time to share family photos, stories about your family’s history. Dig out your old photo albums and look through them with your children. Add new pictures to the family collection together and make this a regular activity.
  23. Connect with your teenagers – As your children grow into their teenage years, spending time together becomes even more important, and at the same time, difficult. It takes a little more effort, but finding daily time for your teenagers is possible.
  24. Do Good – Teenagers are inspired to volunteer and to make a difference in the world around them. Find a cause which you both identify with and sign up together. Attend regularly, volunteer and find time for each other too.
  25. Get to know your teen’s friends – Teen’s spend a lot of time with their friends, finding out who they are as individuals and learning how to socialise beyond the family. Try opening up your home and welcome your teen’s friends to get to know them better.
  26. Celebrate Family traditions – Share these family traditions with the younger generation and set aside the time to follow these traditions together to create lasting memories.
  27. Make your spouse feel special – In all our daily rush, we sometimes take the person closest to us for granted. Spend time with your spouse and let them know that they are special to you in every way.
  28. Celebrate, Recognise and appreciate each other – Keep track of important events such as family birthdays, job changes, retirements, anniversaries, engagements, graduations, births, and yes, deaths too. Recognise these important events and make time to attend them, organise celebrations for them and be there to support each other.

 

Click here for Quotes about family time to inspire you:

 

  1. “In family relationships, love is really spelled T.I.M.E.”
  2. “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, a parent.”
  3. “Family time is sacred time and should be protected and respected.”
  4. “If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.”
  5. “Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.”
  6. “Family is the most important thing in the world.”
  7. “If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don’t expose it to the elements. You don’t make it common or ordinary. If it ever becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by.”
  8. “To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.”
  9. “Some of the most important conversations I’ve ever had occurred at my family’s dinner table.”
  10. “When in doubt, choose the kids. There will be plenty of time later to choose work.”
  11. “Children will not remember you for the material things you provided, but for the feeling that you cherished them.”
  12. “Happiness comes from unselfish service. And happy homes are only those where there is a daily striving to make sacrifices for each other’s happiness.”
  13. “I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life.”
  14. “Family: like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one.”
  15. “We didn’t realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.”
  16. “If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them and half as much money.”
  17. “You always have time for the things you put first.”
  18. “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.”
  19. “While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach        us what life is all about.”
  20. “When you love what you have, you have everything you need.
  21. No amount of money or success can take place of time spent with your family.
  22. Love your family. Spend time, be kind & serve one another. Make no room for regrets. Tomorrow is not promised & today is short.
  23. Your children get only one childhood. Make if memorable.
  24. Having family time to reflect on your day is the BEST.
  25. Time spent with family is worth every second.
  26. Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life.
  27. I don’t think quantity time is as special as quality time with your family.
  28. If you want to change the world go home and love your family.
  29. Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.
  30. If you are too busy to enjoy time with your family, then you need to reevaluate your priorities.
  31. Sticking with your family is what makes it a family.
  32. Family time is the best time.
  33. No matter what, it’s family time over everything.
  34. A man should never neglect his family for business.
  35. Do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man that doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.
  36. Your cell phone has already replaced your watch, alarm clock and calendar. Don’t let it replace your family.
  37. The most important thing in the world is family and love.
  38.  Togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life.
  39. Family always going  be there. The material things come and go.
  40. The single most important factor in our long-term happiness is the relationships we have with our family.
  41. One of the important thing that binds family should be a shared sense of humor.
  42. Ultimate life dream project should be kids and family.
  43. Nurture the practice of family values, by embracing policies that value families.
  44. My family is my life and everything comes second.
  45. Family is the most mysterious and fascinating institution in the world.
  46. The family is the nucleus of civilization.
  47. Dignity is not negotiable. Dignity is the honor of the family.
  48. Having somewhere to go is Home. Having someone to Love is Family. Having both is a Blessing.
  49. Family is like music, some high notes, some low notes, but always a beautiful song.