Spending more quality time with the fam

Many of us are packed with busy schedules and we either spend little time with them or spend little quality time with them. We may have a lot on our plates and multiple responsibilities to juggle, but the greater the separation between family members, the more we will feel like strangers passing each other by.

Some families try to make up for the lack of quality time by arranging a big family vacation plan to unwind and strengthen their bond together. This can also expose the family to exploring and enjoying new experiences together as a family. While it may be a good idea, it is preferable to cultivate daily habits to interact with our family members. Quality family time is important because it affects children's social and emotional maturity and fosters profound understanding among family members. As a result, we should not rely solely on significant occasions such as family trips to strengthen our bond, but we should also rely on small daily interactions.

What is quality family time & how do we practice them more often?

Spending more quality family time means that the interactions that you have with your family are other ways of saying “I love you” and that you care for them deeply.

As long as one family member starts to practice spending more quality time with each other, the others will soon start to reciprocate.

For starters, we parents can drop off their children at school or pack them their lunch (Bonus: if you include a note, they will know how much you care about them <3)

Other common practices include:

• Telling them how much you love them

• Have dinner together more often, whether its homecooked or dining outside

It is important to at least share a meal together to open up an opportunity for everyone to express how their day was.

• After-dinner walks

Why not spend a little more time with them after dinner to spark up on some topics. The walk can also help with your digestion and everyone is able to enjoy a view as we speak. Hopefully it enables us to connect with each other on another level

• Fixing things together: Broken sing, assembling new furniture, painting the walls

It is a perfect excuse to spend some time together, children loves to fix things and will be more curious on how to do it.

• Share family stories

Sometimes we don’t know everything about our family members, we can start sharing each other’s funny stories at the dinner table or at gatherings. You could also dig out the old family album and look back at how much we have grown together.

References

30 ways to spend more time with your family | Families for life. (n.d.). Families for Life. https://familiesforlife.sg/discover-an-article/pages/30-ways-to-spend-more-family-time.aspx