Prioritizing quality time is essential for nurturing strong and resilient relationships with your loved ones. When you engage in fun and meaningful activities together, you not only create lasting memories but also cultivate an environment where each family member feels valued, supported and connected.
It can be difficult to find downtime between helping kids with homework, supporting their activities and keeping up with housework. To learn about balancing it all, watch the short flash course “School-Life Balance,” then read on for more helpful suggestions.
- Schedule time together. While it can be difficult to find time during the busyness of the school year, even setting aside 30 minutes each week for family bonding can create lifelong memories. Explore what activities your children or spouse enjoy or spend a few moments relaxing and talking with one another.
- Start a family project. When you work on a project such as building a treehouse, cooking a meal or finishing a book series together, this can help foster teamwork and togetherness with your family. Working towards a common goal is an excellent way to teach the value of hard work while spending meaningful time together.
- Limit screens and distractions. Between work, school and social life, family free time is often limited, and phones, video games and TV often fill the gap. Try scheduling distraction-free time for the whole family daily, even if this is only a half-hour. When everyone is fully present with one another, this allows for deeper relationships and bonding.
- Prioritize mealtimes. Everyone must eat, and mealtimes are one of the best opportunities to communicate as a family. Whether you dedicate breakfast or dinner, try setting aside one meal for family time. Use this as a chance to debrief about the day, cook together or discuss an educational or interesting topic.
- Encourage togetherness. When sporting events, music recitals, housework and other activities consume time outside of work and school, encourage your whole family to work together and support each other. Tackling chores in teams, cheering on siblings or assisting during activities allows for more family time and shows that you care about one another’s interests.
Did you know?
Your program offers conveniently packaged toolkits to help you balance it all. The Parenting Toolkit provides tip sheets, videos and local resources to assist families with navigating health concerns, homework, learning difficulties, bullying and more.
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Source: SupportLinc EAPP