It’s every parent’s dream to have a home, where everyone feels happy and loved. And
although it’s not always easy, there are a few steps you could take to have the
happy family you’ve always wanted. 1. Balancing work and home life
Balancing your work and home life can be a challenge sometimes,
but the way you manage it can make quite a difference in your relationship with your family.
Yes you need a job that challenges you, but not one that is overwhelming. You also need
to think about how big of a family you can raise responsibly at that instance. By making
wise decisions in areas of your life that matter most, it won’t be as difficult to attain balance.
If you’re already settled into a career and have a growing family, you can still make minor changes
that will help you achieve this balance. You could try requesting more flexible hours, reorganising
the responsibilities at home or seek out friends or family members who can help you out.
Being able to work in a way that fits around family commitments, and isn’t restricted to the
nine to five, boosts your self-esteem as you’re not constantly worrying about neglecting your
responsibilities in any area, and ultimately making you feel more in control of your life.
You’ll have a life away from home and your family will be happier to see more of you.
And when spending time with family, try and forget about work for a while. You don’t have
to answer emails or pick up the phone. This makes your partner and kids feel prioritised,
thus feel more confident and comfortable. If you constantly tackle work in front of tour family,
they feel they aren’t as important as your work. Reaching a work life balance whether you work
full time or part time is usually a long and mostly difficult process. If you don’t make the
conscious decision to achieve balance, you may fail somewhere along the way.
2. Look after yourself Most times parents spend
most of their time looking after everyone else in the family and forget to take care of themselves.
Failing to look after yourself can actually cause you to feel miserable and resentful,
and because of it, you won’t be able to give your kids the support they need from you.
It’s okay to have feelings and needs of your own. It’s not selfish to set aside time just for you
when you can relax and focus on you.
Have a chat with your friends from time to time. There are probably a lot of challenges
you go through as a parent. And even though you might think that you’re burdening someone with
your problems, the important thing is that you get to talk, laugh, yell and complain
about the situation you’re in. Also set aside at least half an hour each day to do something you
like to reduce stress. This could be watching your favourite TV show, gardening and so on.
Raising kids is an important job and taking care of yourself helps
you to it well. And this is because looking after yourself physically,
mentally and emotionally helps you give your kids what they need to grow and excel in life.
Looking after yourself involves looking after your relationships, health and well-being. When you’re
so focused on your kids, it’s easy to forget or run out of time to look after these parts of
your life. But taking care of yourself is worth it, not just for you but your children as well.
3. Positive discipline
Positive discipline is about teaching children how to behave
as well as helping them understand the consequences of their behaviour. By
disciplining your kids from an early age, you give them the opportunity to understand the values,
and what the family, school and community at large expects of them. In the early stages of a child’s
development, parents and even teachers help kids understand what’s right and what’s wrong,
while creating a safe place at the same time to experiment and learn about life.
Discipline shouldn’t be thought of as a punishment, but rather as a way to teach your kids
to meet their needs without hitting or affecting someone else. You might feel angry when they do
something wrong, but it helps to keep calm and teach your child how he or she should have handled
the situation differently, and how to go about it the next time they’re in a similar situation.
Going about it this way is both more positive and more constructive.
This is probably the greatest gift you can give to your child. It shows the love and respect you have
for them and teaches them from early on that what they say and think is important to you.
They also learn to behave the same towards others. And this
helps create a confident child who is valued and values others.
It’s not too late to implement discipline in your child’s life
if you haven’t started yet. But it’s important for you to be consistent in your approach
to discipline as this creates greater security for your child.
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4. Communicate Being able to communicate
effectively in a household is one of the greatest foundations from which a happy family is built.
Not only talking but listening to each other is what brings families closer.
Children sometimes find it hard to vocalise their feelings,
but just knowing that their parents are listening, can be enough. It’s good to talk about yourself,
not just the problems you face in your daily life and in this way they’re more likely to see
the value of including you in the things they do if they feel included in the things you do.
Talking to one another shouldn’t be taken for granted. Take time every day to share
stories with one another, and the best moment for this is probably dinner time.
Try to eat together in one place and everyone gets to recount what happened through their day.
Kids who communicate with their parents are more open to discuss their problems
and more confidently express their opinions. And ensure that during these moments,
all gadget should be turned off to prevent any interference while interacting with the family.
5. Spend quality time as a family The time you spend together as
a family helps strengthen your bond. From the moment they’re born, children need
time and attention from their parents. You can’t underestimate the impact personal interaction has.
Family time has a bearing on the social and emotional maturity of
children and also establishes deep understanding among family members.
The way a family interacts has a significant impact on the behavioural and emotional issues
in children. A number of studies consider the first step to raising happy kids
who will contribute positively to the society is spending quality time with them.
Whenever you can, try your best to organise some time together,
maybe sit down for a meal a few times a week as this will give all of you a
chance to talk and connect, and talk about important issues and fun stuff as well.
You could plan an outing once in a while. Also ask your kids to help with chores or
run a few errands. They may be reluctant at first but eventually they’ll feel included.
The ultimate goal of family time is to create opportunities for everyone
to love and understand one another, and in the process raising happy, well-adjusted children.
6. Spend quality time with your partner
Finding the time to spend with your partner becomes more difficult once you’ve had kids,
but making time for each other is important. After all, children
learn about relationships from their parents. There’s a lot that kids learn from their parents.
So if you want to teach a loving attitude, there’s no better way than to show it through
the way you interact with your significant other. Learning this from home is important
because it’s from this that the kids learn how to interact with those around them.
Spending quality time with your partner is the best way of ensuring your relationship remains
strong and healthy. And this means being in each other’s company without interruptions,
when you get the chance to talk and do a few of the things you don’t usually have the time for.
Watch movies together, go out to dinner. How about trying something new together?
Maybe you’ve wanted to learn a new language, go skydiving or take dancing lessons.
Instead of viewing these as solo hobbies and interests,
why not involve your spouse? Trying out new activities together,
because doing so encourages you to rely on one another for both physical and emotional support.
Simply set aside time just for the two of you and strengthen your bond. You both deserve it.
7. Make decisions together
Decisions in the family should be agreed upon by all family members. It’s good to
involve the kids in family discussions more especially in things that relate to them.
Children who grow up in an open environment and are accustomed to expressing themselves
grow up to be more confident. When your child makes a decision that turns out well,
he feels proud and this helps build confidence and continue to build good decision making skills
as he approaches teenage hood and even later into adulthood.
And also kids who are included when formulating rules, tend to follow them better.
Making decisions together helps create a sense
of belonging that makes everyone feel like an important part of the family.
It also creates a sense of value. By recognising their small decisions, children
feel empowered and acknowledge their worth. Aside from this, children also learn how to
be responsible and also allows them to develop problem solving skills.
You can start with simple decisions like choosing where to go for vacation, which restaurant to
visit, who gets to do this or that chore etc. Small choices can go a long way.
8. Develop Family Traditions Family traditions are important for a number of
reasons. For one, they help a family feel united and provides a sense of identity and belonging.
It also gives everyone something to look forward to and serves as a special bonding experience.
They don’t only have to be reserved for the holidays.
For example you could have family game nights and take turns picking out games and activities.
Go for walks or bike rides on Sunday afternoons. You could even make a tradition in the evenings
when everyone can share a little of what they did during the day.
Such traditions help your family stay connected.
There isn’t a feeling quite like knowing the ones you love are happy.
And although everyone has a different definition of a happy family,
at the end of the day it’s your happiness and theirs that matters.
Thank you so much for watching and I hoped you gained value from this video.
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have a good one and I’ll see you in the next one.