My husband works a
crazy schedule, and ends up with about 7 days in a row every month where he’s
home with us. This throws off our schedule and sometimes it’s hard to spend so
much time together as a family. It’s a lot of together time! What
we really need to do is “do” something instead of just sitting at home. Here
are five new things that we’ve decided to try. They may not be new ideas or
“a-ha!” kind of ideas, but they’re a great way to get back to the basics.
Get Moving
My husband exercises a lot. Me? Not so
much. So we’ve decided to take on a more healthy, active lifestyle. It’s
something that we are hoping to instill in our children while they are so
young. It’s easy to walk, instead of drive to the park, and we always take a
basketball or soccer ball to keep the kids running around.
This is an easy, smart idea and it’s
simple to incorporate into our daily routine.
Snuggle Up
Once a week, we throw blankets down on
the carpet, pop in a kid-friendly movie and make some popcorn for movie night.
We all snuggle in the blankets and just enjoy each other.
Other times, the kids all pile in bed
with us and we read or wrestle or talk and giggle. Those are some of the best
times we spend together.
Cook Dinner as a Family
Or any meal for that matter! Not every
night, but at least once a week we decide as a family what we’ll have for
dinner. Everybody can pick something . . . it just has to be something healthy
(although one of my daughter’s always requests cookies no matter what!)
Everybody gets a job, and it’s fun to
watch the kids learn the cooking basics. Not only that, kids will also learn
how to measure, what teamwork is all about, and being creative.
I’ve also found that if they help make
the meal, they’re more likely to eat it as well.
Stick to The Schedule
Like I said, when dad’s home, the
schedule gets out of whack. Which throws me and the kids all out of whack. This
is something I realize must remain the same consistently.
It’s important that we always wake up
at the same time, eat breakfast, and get out the door at the same time. The
kids need to know that in the evenings after naptime they get to play for a
bit, do homework, have dinner, take baths, and go to bed. They know what to
expect and that makes everything just flows better; the kids aren’t cranky and
neither am I! Which of course makes dad happy too!
Get a Family Hobby
Ours happens to be gardening. The kids
know names of flowers, bushes and trees in our yard. They help pull weeds and
plant seeds. We let them help us decide what to plant each season and they get
to watch things grow. I like that our kids get to see where our food comes from
and how it grows.
What makes your family happy?
< http://africanspotlight.com/
