YMCA parent tips: putting fun into your family life
Today's families are busier than ever. Everyone's got an agenda to follow, from baby on up. Despite the hectic pace, it's important for families to make an effort to have fun together. Happiness is an important life skill that doesn't just happen. It may sound funny, but you have to work at it.
Listed below are ways to add fun to your family's life.
Make ordinary things fun.
Happiness is a way of looking at life. Turn everyday experiences into lighthearted fun. Make up silly names for each other or change the words to songs as you drive somewhere. Play games while grocery shopping as you head up and down the aisles. Put on some music and dance around after dinner. Wash the car together and then turn it into a splash party.
Teach your child the magic of anticipation.
Children learn from their parents how to look forward to things. Sit down and talk about upcoming events that are going to be fun. Activities don't have to be major. Just looking forward to a weekend together or a trip to the mall can be enough.
Get in the habit of savoring the moment.
Learn to live in the present sometimes. Don't get bogged down with analyzing a situation or lecturing for the sake of teaching. Just take it all in with your senses-observe and enjoy.
Take plenty of strolls down memory lane.
Talk about the good times you've had in the past and help build your child's memories. Take pictures and collect souvenirs. Kids love it when you tell them about themselves-when they were born, what their first words were, when they learned to walk, etc.
Encourage your child's playful side.
Help your child develop a sense of humor. Teach him how to find joy in life and not to take it too seriously. Laugh at his jokes, then make up some of your own!
Be playful yourself. Children enjoy themselves most when they're around parents who are playful. They learn how to keep things in perspective when they see mom or dad act silly at times. If you don't take yourself too seriously, you'll be more human in your child's eyes.
Eleven fun ideas:
- Keep scrapbooks or photo albums on family activities.
- Keep a book of family quotations. Your children say some hilarious things you won't want to forget. Write them down in a bound book, then read it together some time.
- Make the first Saturday of every month Weird Breakfast Day. Serve something unusual like pizza or Chinese food. On the flipside, give the kids scrambled eggs, waffles, or pancakes for dinner every now and then-they'll love it!
- Have squirt-gun free-for-alls in warm weather, pillow fights in cold weather.
- Hold a story night with older children in which everyone tells part of a story, making it as goofy as possible.
- Rent funny movies, pop some popcorn and sit around and laugh together.
- Jump into a pile of leaves.
- Get a box of colored chalk and decorate the sidewalk together.
- Turn the music up, roll back the rugs and dance!
- Do seasonal things, like picking apples in the fall or taking a trip to the lake in summer.
- Let the housework go for once. Get out of the house and play!