Family Fun | Part 4
May 10
The Value of Food Coloring
With the explosion of social media there is an overwhelming amount of information on how to have fun and create fun family memories. From blogs, like this one, to pinterest we have no excuse to not have creative family time. We just have to make the time.
There are two types of fun that need to take place because they serve two different purposes. The first is spontaneous fun, this is the type of fun that breaks routine. We gave an example of this unexpected fun with the story of the water balloons earlier this week. It can even be something like having a themed dinner, picnic on the floor, dinner at the beach or the park on a weeknight, or even as simple as stopping for an ice-cream off the dollar menu to celebrate a Tuesday.
The other type of fun is scheduled fun. This is setting aside time to have fun together as a family. A great example of this is a family game night. Family game night can do a lot more then just fun. It can help to teach a child how to have fun with competition and how to win/loose appropriately.
Make it a habit to have moments of spontaneous and scheduled fun at least once a week.
Listen to today’s podcast for more insight on this topic.
Family Fun | Part 3
May 09
It Doesn’t Have to Cost Money
Today’s society has such a warped view of what fun is. For many of us fun is wrapped around getting something new or paying someone/something to entertain us. Many of us pay to take our children places for them to be entertained. We need to teach our children what it means to have fun with out spending. This doesn’t mean sitting your children down and lecturing them how when you were a child you could spend the day entertaining yourself out side with only a stick or a rock. This means setting the example. Play with your children, don’t just set them in front of the TV or videogame as a babysitter.
Another thing that we can do is encourage our children to develop their imagination. Spend time reading to your children or making time for them to read. Loose your inhibitions and spend time in the back yard pretending to fight the dragon or sailing across the ocean with your young children. Take the time to kick/throw/ hit a ball with your older children. Show them that fun doesn’t have to cost anything. There is also something to be said for the value of knowing how to entertain yourself and not have to be entertained.
Listen to today’s podcast for more on this topic.
Family Fun | Part 2
May 08
It Relieves Stress
We touched on the concept of fun as a stress relieve a little bit yesterday. It is amazing that fun can be like a mini vacation from life. It is amazing how just a few brief moments of fun can lighten the load of a stressful situation. It also helps us as parents keep proper perspective on what truly is important.
For example, during a particularly stressful time for the girls in the residential program, meaning they were having a bad week of fighting between each other, the house mom and I decided that we needed to create a “distraction of fun”. When the house pop left in the van to pick up the girls we spent 30 minutes filling water balloons. Now was there other things that we could have, and probably should have, been doing with that time? Yes, but we knew that it would help the girls relationally if we could create a distraction. We were around the corner of the house when the van pulled in and soaked them as they got out. It is amazing what being pelted with water balloons does to build camaraderie in a group. We were able to defuse the tension and relational stress with fun.
Try finding time for some silly fun in your house this week.
Listen to today’s podcast for more on the topic of fun.
Family Fun | Part 1
May 07
Why It’s Important To Have
There are so many stressors on every member of the family today, financial, relational, and work/ school related stress to name a few. The home is suppose to be an environment that will shield us from those stresses. It is our safe place and shelter from the world around us. It is also the place to build those lasting childhood memories. How sad for time to just fly by because of our busy lives and have regrets about the time spent with our children. We can’t spend our time living only for the weekend or the vacation time. We need to incorporate fun into our day to day. When children are young get into the habit of making family meals something that you do together. Take that opportunity around the table to talk but also don’t miss out on the opportunity for laughing and just plain silliness. It is amazing the stress relief of a really good laugh. Taking opportunities to look for fun also sets the tone for the atmosphere of your family. What will your children feel as they think about their childhood? Will it be fond memories of great family times or will it be memories of wishing for something different.
Make sure to not take yourself to seriously and just have fun with your family.
Listen to today’s podcast for more on the topic of fun.
Those Difficult Parent/Child Discussions | Part 5
May 04
Questions About Imperfect Homes
One thing that can be unsettling for children is when their parents disagree, because if this it may raise questions. First our children need to know that mommy and daddy aren’t perfect and two imperfect people living under the same roof may not always agree. As always we need to be aware that children observe everything and make sure that if we disagree in front of the kids we are appropriate to each other
This maybe a great discussion to teach your children about marriage that even though two people love each other they don’t always agree. It can also be a great thing to use to teach your children about God. Even though mommy and daddy aren’t perfect and make mistakes, their Heaven Father is perfect.
The hard questions about home issues can be used to start discussions with your children. However, if the issues are more severe never put your children in the middle of the arguments or cause them to half to choose sides between mom and dad. This is very distressing for them.
For more on this topic check out our previous series titled, When Parents Don’t Agree, by clicking here.
And as always check out today’s podcast as well for more insight.
Those Difficult Parent/Child Discussions | Part 4
May 03
Questions About The Gray Areas Of Life
There are some areas in life that aren’t completely black and white and different people have different convictions about them. These may be decisions that you want to help coach your kids through. This means that your answers aren’t as important as the discussions they create. Helping your children their own convictions about these gray areas will help them stick with them as they get older. It is their own decision rather then a rule imposed on them.
There are also some gray areas that society has set up boundaries around already. Take movies for instance, some people make the personal choice not to see rated R or even PG-13 movies because of their content. The nice thing is society has already set up that these are appropriate only for ages over 18 or 13. So this is an easy gray area to help your child set up their adult convictions for. So it is easy to have a dialog about this type of gray area. When your child asks about movies, you can reply what your personal conviction is but open a dialog about it. For example something like “mom and dad have chosen not to watch movies that are R because of the nudity or language,” or “mom and dad are very selective about the PG 13/R movies we watch because we don’t want to put the sexuality or language into our heads.” That can open a dialog to discuss this issue.
The importance is the discussion not the answer because with gray areas every family may have made a different choice. This means that your child will observe other families maybe making different choices then yours, which is why you want to be available for questions.
Listen to today’s podcast for more on this topic.
