As a parent, (or a grandparent) you are familiar with the concept of “family time,” but have you ever sat down and thought about why it is important and the benefits it brings to both you and your children’s lives?
Many of today’s families are very busy. Most households need two incomes to survive. Some parents even hold down two or more jobs in order to make ends meet. Many parents feel out of balance when it comes to their working and family time.
These feelings can lead to stress and anxiety. As you know, stress and anxiety lead to other health problems, such as head aches, irritability, depression, high blood pressure, and other ailments.
The time your children spend with you gives them many benefits. Spending time as a family provides your children with feelings of love, support, security and safety.
The various activities you engage in during family time provide your children with opportunities to learn new behaviors and skills. For example, teach younger children the alphabet by making a game out of it. If your elementary age child is learning about pollination, go for a walk and point out the many types of flowers you find.
Spending time with your middle school and high school aged children allows you to stay connected with them and to help them ward off peer pressure. When your child feels a connection to you and the morals you have taught them, they won’t have a high need for acceptance from peers. Your teen will be able to take pride in themselves and stand up for their own convictions.
Spending time together as a family can also be beneficial to your marriage. It’s no secret that the nation’s divorce rate is quite high. Family time isn’t just about a parent spending time with their children; it’s also about spouses spending time together. When both partners are actively making time for one another, the marriage will be stronger and less likely to fold.
While the importance of family time is clear; it isn’t always easy to find the time needed to enjoy family time. There are resources to help you, such as the report “Real Life Guidance: Finding More Family Time.” This report goes over many ways to help you find more family time and it also provides some fun (and inexpensive) ideas for how to spend your time together.
Author Resource - Aurelia Williams is a certified life coach and author of Real Life Guidance: Finding More Family Time. Take the 1st step to finding more family time today.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Multi-generational homes
There is a lot to be said for them but not all of it is good. Especially in times of economic trouble, having a multi-generational household can save a lot of money. (Read: The kids usually live at Mom's for free.) But what happens when Grandma is the only one bringing any income into the house? A lot of frustration, that's what. I love my daughter, I love her children but carrying the load is getting kind of old. That's not even the worse part. I feel trapped in my room some times. My computer is in here and I am a writer by profession so naturally I spend a lot of time in here. When I do venture into other parts of the house, however, I am usually tackled by the grand kids (God bless them!) In fact, my granddaughter (she's only 2) finds any excuse in the world to get in here and when I go out there, she is all over me.
I'm just not sure I like being a prisoner in my own home. I'd like to go to the fridge and get a snack without tripping over toys and having the little ones tackle me. Like I said, I love them to death, I just have done my Mommy gig and I'd like a little peace now. When I'm not working, I'd like to enjoy some television maybe. No can do unless I want to be in the room with 4 other people. sigh. I guess I'm just venting. Does anyone else live in a multi-generation house? Any thoughts.
I'm just not sure I like being a prisoner in my own home. I'd like to go to the fridge and get a snack without tripping over toys and having the little ones tackle me. Like I said, I love them to death, I just have done my Mommy gig and I'd like a little peace now. When I'm not working, I'd like to enjoy some television maybe. No can do unless I want to be in the room with 4 other people. sigh. I guess I'm just venting. Does anyone else live in a multi-generation house? Any thoughts.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
10 Steps For Cooking-Up Family Memories
The kitchen is the perfect place for making memories. When you spend time baking, cooking and enjoying meals with your family, you create happy memories you and your children (or grandchildren) will cherish forever.
The benefits of preparing and enjoying food as a family are clear. You save money and eat healthier meals. You create opportunities to connect and communicate with your children and spouse. And most importantly, you show love for your family when you spend time cooking and eating with them. Children of all ages need your attention and your time. By working together to create a meal or bake a batch of cookies, you spend valuable time together.
So, here are 10 steps to get your family cooking up memories.
Step 1:
Teach small children the fun of cooking by helping them bake cookies and cakes. If you are short on time, you can use a boxed cookie mix and spend more time decorating.
Step 2:
Encourage the littlest ones to play pretend cooking. Kids love to play with real mixing bowls, strainers and wooden spoons. These make harmless toys and can be easily thrown in the dishwasher for quick cleanup.
Step 3:
If you live by your day-timer, schedule in baking cookies with your kids. Our schedules can be so hectic that something as simple as baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies can get skipped over. Write it down and do it.
Step 4:
If you have teenagers, let them play their favorite music while they wash the lettuce and set the table.
Step 5:
Work together with your spouse to prepare the dinner and use the time to catch up on each other's day.
Step 6:
Even if you are in a rush preparing dinner, remember to reduce your stress and focus on creating a fun atmosphere that naturally encourages the whole family to participate.
Step 7:
When spending time preparing food with your children, include lessons about healthy eating choices. Keep the conversation positive and avoid listing foods they can't have.
Step 8:
On days where you anticipate time will be tight, consider taking a short cut by using a frozen stir-fry mix or pasta with a jar of pre-made sauce. Your family will appreciate your relaxed mood much more than a made-from-scratch dinner.
Step 9:
Share the job of grocery shopping. One week have mom take one of the children as a helper, the next week dad can go with another child. Always work from a grocery list and let your children help you retrieve items and cross them off the list.
Step 10:
Have big family meals where you share about your day. Keep the conversation fun and avoid negative lectures over dinner. Remember to laugh.
Take these steps today and make your kitchen a fun and memorable place for your whole family.
The benefits of preparing and enjoying food as a family are clear. You save money and eat healthier meals. You create opportunities to connect and communicate with your children and spouse. And most importantly, you show love for your family when you spend time cooking and eating with them. Children of all ages need your attention and your time. By working together to create a meal or bake a batch of cookies, you spend valuable time together.
So, here are 10 steps to get your family cooking up memories.
Step 1:
Teach small children the fun of cooking by helping them bake cookies and cakes. If you are short on time, you can use a boxed cookie mix and spend more time decorating.
Step 2:
Encourage the littlest ones to play pretend cooking. Kids love to play with real mixing bowls, strainers and wooden spoons. These make harmless toys and can be easily thrown in the dishwasher for quick cleanup.
Step 3:
If you live by your day-timer, schedule in baking cookies with your kids. Our schedules can be so hectic that something as simple as baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies can get skipped over. Write it down and do it.
Step 4:
If you have teenagers, let them play their favorite music while they wash the lettuce and set the table.
Step 5:
Work together with your spouse to prepare the dinner and use the time to catch up on each other's day.
Step 6:
Even if you are in a rush preparing dinner, remember to reduce your stress and focus on creating a fun atmosphere that naturally encourages the whole family to participate.
Step 7:
When spending time preparing food with your children, include lessons about healthy eating choices. Keep the conversation positive and avoid listing foods they can't have.
Step 8:
On days where you anticipate time will be tight, consider taking a short cut by using a frozen stir-fry mix or pasta with a jar of pre-made sauce. Your family will appreciate your relaxed mood much more than a made-from-scratch dinner.
Step 9:
Share the job of grocery shopping. One week have mom take one of the children as a helper, the next week dad can go with another child. Always work from a grocery list and let your children help you retrieve items and cross them off the list.
Step 10:
Have big family meals where you share about your day. Keep the conversation fun and avoid negative lectures over dinner. Remember to laugh.
Take these steps today and make your kitchen a fun and memorable place for your whole family.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Great ideas- after the fact
Have you ever just had great ideas? I mean, just out of the blue, for no reason. I think that happened to me today. I'm not sure why, but I had this thought: Great title for a Blog: Grandma Muses. (You know, like Grandma Moses, only Muses.) Ahh well, that's for another day
I'm under the weather today. Stomach flu I think. I've been working hard trying to get everything done and today I'm not going to be doing much of anything.
Please tell your friends about my blog. I will be adding some great stuff soon.
I'm under the weather today. Stomach flu I think. I've been working hard trying to get everything done and today I'm not going to be doing much of anything.
Please tell your friends about my blog. I will be adding some great stuff soon.
More thoughts on the New Year
I've been busy as ever and worked right through New Years Eve and New Years Day. It is sometimes a struggle to keep up with my job as a content writer (writing 7500 words a day) and also trying to start my own business. That's before the blogging and Squidoo-ing that I try to keep up with! I did want to point out that I do have high hopes for 2009. My most popular and best ranked Lens on Squidoo right now is "I'm gonna Shine in 2009" It even toppled the Lens that was my #1 for over 8 months! You may want to take a look at it and join those of us who are making a commitment to shine in 2009!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Is there something magical about New Years?
I don't think the magic is in the day but rather in our determination on this day. Whether it was held on January 1st or May the 14th, it signifies a change. It represents what we have learned about ourselves and what we would like to change. Personally, I don't make "Resolutions." I do make some general goals and I think that is important to do. Everyone should have goals and aspirations. However, "resolutions" get broken whereas goals can be modified.
No, it's not the day that is magical, it is how we view the past with hindsight and wisdom and use that to try to shape our future. Oh sure, New Years is a holiday and many people celebrate it. I have no problem with that. I prefer to just go on about my business and yet take time to reflect and even plan some goals for the future. New Years does tend to give us hope and that is probably the most magical thing about it. The old year is past. As Oprah said "here's to a new year and another chance to get things right!" Good Ole Oprah.
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