How To Increase Family Time And Improve Your Relationships
Is it a priority for your to spend time as a family? It should be.
I cannot believe my kids are now nine and twelve. The last decade, and then some, is a blur. How is it that I have been a parent for a long as I attend elementary, junior and high school?
Those days of my childhood seem to, relatively, drag and here I am a parent — of an almost teenager. What?!
Shaking my head in disbelief, I reflect on my parents saying the same thing — only, how is my youngest in her forties. What?!
Time flies, so why not make the most of it by enjoying each other’s company.
Intentionally spending time with our kids, at all ages, from family movie nights to board games to camping trips to hiking to escape rooms — there is an opportunity at all ages for us to be together.
Children remember these times — forever. I certainly do.
Camping and fishing trips, playing sports, building forts, exploring shorelines, “mystery tours” — these are the experiences that brought me joy as a child (including my teenage years and even today!) and ones that I hope am sharing with my own kids.
Mystery tours are a full-day excursion that my parents started taking me on after my older brothers moved away. We’d explore the woods to find a rare chocolate lily or attend a seafood festival, head to a new restaurant — mother-father-daughter trips, just the three of us.
The older I get, the more I realize I had a childhood that I am aspiring to create for my children.
Not all families are gifted with this opportunity, and some might lose such in an instant — taking for granted what they never knew they were on the verge of losing.
According to a recent American study, families spend approximately 37 minutes together each day — impacted by hectic schedules (StudyFinds.org).
Given the influence of technology, families are spending less time together, even when they are in the same space.
