Family bonding is important for the growth and wellbeing of young children. And for parents as well. But with the rising cost of living, more and more people have had to take part-time jobs on the weekends. Aside from their regular nine-to-five, parents are sacrificing quality time with their children just to make ends meet. Even relatively well-off couples with high incomes may struggle to maintain a positive relationship with their children. This is probably due to their growing careers and mounting responsibilities.
Benefits of Family Bonding and Tips
Spending quality time as a family has become more of a chore in recent times. You’re always struggling to fit it into your busy schedule. To make matters worse, sometimes your kids may not even be in the mood for it. Despite these obstacles, you must still try your best to squeeze in some quality time, even for a few hours a day. This is because family bonding provides a wealth of benefits, and some more important than others. For example, regular family bonding can reduce the chances of your kids engaging in risky behaviour when they are older. Going on family vacations is also good for your child’s cognitive health and your marital well-being. Moreover, increasing family ties could reduce your chances of getting a divorce. That said, there are still ways to strengthen your familial ties, even if it’s just having dinner together every night. Here are 7 practical tips for family bonding:
Family Dinners
One of the best and easily overlooked ways to spend quality time with your kids is having dinner together. It should be a daily ritual for your family, even if you’re ordering takeaway. Of course, eating isn’t the only activity you can do during mealtimes. If your child is old enough to talk, you can ask them about school. You can even let them participate in grown-up talk, or simplify conversations with your spouse, so your kids can understand. Unless you’re taking graveyard shifts, evenings can be a pleasant time to unwind and bond with your loved ones. Dinners aren’t the only mealtimes where you can bond. Breakfast and weekend lunches are also equally enjoyable.
Picnics
You may not have time for a full-blown family vacation, but a weekend picnic may just be the thing. An afternoon at the public park can be a refreshing change of scenery from your dining room. You can pack sandwiches, juice boxes, board games, Frisbees, and anything else you can think of. You don’t have to prepare a three-course meal. It’s just a picnic. While your children are playing, you can relax with your spouse. Goodness knows, you may benefit from some time off your busy schedule.
Gardening
Another good bonding activity that you can do with your kids is gardening. This may be a bit difficult if you don’t have a backyard. But for those of you who do, now’s the time to cultivate your young one’s green thumb. They don’t even have to plant anything, just do some general garden work like weeding. If you are planning on growing vegetables, you can simply buy some saplings. Then, get your toddler to help you repot them. Growing a garden can be so rewarding. There is no better feeling than reaping the fruits of your labour. You’re also making precious memories while you’re at it.
Exercise
Exercise is a good way to bond and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Working out in general can reduce your risks of developing cardiovascular disease and other illnesses. Exercise also has wonderful benefits for mental health. So getting your kids to enjoy exercise at a young age will help instil good habits as they grow older. Your kids may still be too young for the gym, or even fitness classes, so start small. Go for bike-rides, power walks or nature hikes. Some parks even have those exercise machines that you can use for free. If you don’t want to leave the house, you can always play some basketball or football in the backyard, or do aerobic exercises in the living room.
Zoos
A good educational bonding activity is a zoo trip. You can teach them all about animals, habitats, and even other parts of the world. Not all animals in our zoos are local; some of them are from places as far as India. Looking at rare and exotic animals aren’t the only fun thing to do in zoos, either. Some zoos have night safaris, boat rides, horse rides, photo booths, souvenir shops and even food courts. A day at the zoo is definitely a great bonding experience that you can enjoy with your spouse and kids.
Chores
If you’re too busy with household chores to do some bonding, then why not mix the two? Doing chores can be just as much a family activity as having meals together. You learn to work with each other, and you’re getting the house in tiptop condition as a bonus. Besides, there is no better time to teach your kids about chores while they’re young. The trick is to make them enjoy it, so it will help them later when they’re adults. If your kids are still new to the concept of chores, here are 4 ways to teach them about it. These cleaning activities can be as simple as sweeping the floor, washing dishes, doing laundry and even folding clothes. As a bonus, you’ll end up doing much less work with your kids and spouse lending a hand.
Art
Creative activities are a good way to both bond and express. You don’t need to bring out the paintbrush and easels, either. A colouring book and some coloured pencils will often do the trick. Other implements that are less of a hassle to clean up include crayons and markers. As an adult you may think it’s childish to make paintings, but art therapy exists. It has been scientifically proven to help with depression, anxiety, stress, and even PTSD. So, give it a try. As an adult with stressful careers and responsibilities, drawing and painting may just be the outlet you need to unwind. When done together with loved ones, it may draw you closer together as a family.
Spending quality time with loved ones
Kids grow up so fast. Before you know it, they’re already in secondary school, where they’ll be too busy for their parents. So it’s important to get some bonding done while they’re young. Kids are seemingly unconcerned with how they look or what people think of them. Adolescents on the other hand, are, quite understandably, self-absorbed. There may come a point where they will no longer enjoy family trips or want to participate in family activities. So make the most out of your kids’ childhood. Who knows, maybe all the bonding you do while they’re young will carry on into their teen years. They may grow up wanting to spend all their quality time with you.
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