We want a happy family life, but in the chaos of life, it’s sometimes hard to make that a reality. This post shares three habits to cultivate for a close-knit family.
Some days are golden. The kids get along great–laughing and playing together for hours. You and your spouse are in sync. Your to-do list gets checked off. No surprises or setbacks pop-up. Life runs pretty smoothly and you feel connected with the ones you love.
But that’s not most days.
Most days are filled with chaos–alarms that don’t go off, juice that gets spilled all over the freshly mopped floors, forgotten homework, poopy diapers at the most inopportune times, too much to do and not enough time to do it. And often, this chaos leads to stress and tantrums and yelling and fighting. So. Much. Fighting. (Do siblings always fight this much?)
Unfortunately, the chaos of life makes it hard to keep a happy vibe in our homes. It makes it hard to keep things calm, peaceful, loving, and connected. But we all want those things. And it’s possible to have them, even on the craziest of days.
Here are five habits for a close-knit family, even when life gets crazy:
1. Add something intentional to your morning routine.
Take a few minutes each morning to do something that either:
- Creates calm or peace.
- Brings your family together with fun or laughter.
- Encourages your family to show love for each other.
Perhaps your whole family can’t find a time to be together in the mornings. Maybe your husband leaves for work at 4am or your oldest has sports practice before school. Just do your best. Pick a time when the majority of the family can be present and do something to start the day off on the right foot.
Some ideas include:
- Reading scriptures together
- Turning on a happy playlist and dancing together while you make breakfast and pack lunches
- Having a family gratitude practice (go around the breakfast table and have each person say one family member they’re grateful for and why)
- Kneeling for family prayer
- Hugging each kid before they walk out the door
- Reading a chapter of a book out loud togehter
- Answering silly or thought-provoking questions during breakfast (you can keep a jar of them on the table)
- Repeating a family motto before walking out the door
2. Create a weekly family tradition.
Pick one day a week to create a tradition you do together as a family. Make homemade pizza together on Friday nights. Movie night on Saturday. Tuesday night game night. Waffle bar with fun toppings and hot chocolate on Sunday mornings. Family walks on Thursday after dinner.
Think about what you love to do together as a family. Then take a look at your schedule and carve out a time to do it every week. It might be hard to find a time. In fact, it make take some sacrifices from various family members. But it’ll be worth it in the end.
Once you’ve picked a time, stick with it. Guard that time. Keep it sacred. It’s your special family tradition! Sure, there will sometimes be times when you have to cancel (a family wedding, the whole family coming down with the flu, a holiday with its own traditions falls on that day), but do everything you can to stick with it as often as possible.
This tradition may (and most likely will) change over time for any number of reasons–health, ages of kids, other circumstances. And that’s fine. The important thing is that during every season of life, your family has something solid to hold on to.
3. Talk with each member of your family every day.
Spend even just a couple minutes talking with each member of your household every single day. This can be when you wake each kid up, right when they get home from school, while you drive them to soccer, as you tuck them in at night, in bed with your husband before you drift off to sleep. In doesn’t take a ton of time, but it needs to be deliberate. Make these moments count!
Don’t be focused on dishes or thinking about that project that’s due at work tomorrow or the phone call you need to make. Be focused on who you’re talking to–what they’re saying and how much you love them. Sure, maybe you don’t care AT ALL about the Minecraft fact they’re sharing with you, but you care about THEM, so smile and pretend like it’s the most interesting thing you’ve ever heard 😉. Your relationship will thank you.
Your Close-Knit Family
There you have it: three things to keep your family connected. With some concentrated effort each morning, one time a week, and a few minutes throughout each day, your family can be much closer and happier.
What habits do you have that promote a close-knit home?
If you want more family connection tips, check out the posts below:
Britney is a wife and mom with a passion for helping other women see the good inside of them. She loves podcasts, polka dots, and dancing around the kitchen with her family.