Recently, in line with National Families Week 2021, we shared 5 top tips to help you celebrate and strengthen your family. We hope you had a chance to read that and maybe start using some of those tips to bond with your immediate family, extended family and the wider community.

Below you’ll find 5 more tips for positively connecting with your family and practical ways you can apply these tips in your life.

Encourage each other and offer support.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in our own endeavours and particularly within our immediate families. To really reinforce strong family connections though there are some little things you can do that will go a long way:

• Head along to watch not only your kids but also your nieces and nephews compete in sport, dance etc
• Remind your kids (and your partner) every night that you’ve got their backs, and encourage them to do the same for their siblings.
• Offer to babysit (and pet sit) for family members who might need a break
• Remember to let them know you are thinking about them, and check-in with them if they’re having a tough time, and send messages of support if they are starting a new endeavour, going for a job, bidding at an auction etc

Celebrate achievements, large and small. 

Who doesn’t love celebrating a win? No matter the size, if your family has had a win, you should celebrate it to foster those feelings of love, support and pride. 

You can celebrate little wins by:

– sharing them to the family chat group (if you have one)

– going out for ice cream

– taking your child shopping and giving them a designated amount of money to pick out a prized item

– allowing kids to have a movie night or stay up past their bedtime

– taking your partner/sibling out for a drink. 

And really celebrate the big wins by treating the family to a nice meal, a day out or even a holiday if the occasion calls for it.

Be generous with your time in your family and in your community.

You may not feel like you have much spare time to give. New mums, especially, are hard-pressed to find time for themselves. As your family grows and becomes less dependent on you though, you will find you are more freely available to volunteer your time to support your extended family and the community. In our recent article on ways you can pay it forward, we covered several different ways you can give your time generously for the benefit of others, so you can read more on different ways to be generous with your time here.

Do something with your family that helps others. 

Involving your family in helping others is a great way to reinforce strong family values while building better bonds with one another. Another recent article on How to teach your Kids to pay it forward shared some very relevant ideas, which will assist you in doing just that.

Reduce your stress – remember you need time out too! 

Ah, the old “You can’t fill from an empty cup.” It’s true. Even if you can only squeeze in the odd cup of tea or steal half an hour to yourself to go for a walk, read a book or watch the latest episode of Younger, try to make time for yourself so that you have the reserves you need and can continue to support your family.

 

Your commitment to giving time, love and support to your family will create rituals and memories that you’ll all grow to cherish.

We hope you find these ideas useful in creating stronger families and communities and would love to hear your best ideas for bonding with your families too! Let us know in the comments.