One of the 10 things that happy families do is work together. But how can working together bring you closer together?
When you work together you are spending time together as a family. Growing up we always had a family garden. Every Saturday morning was weeding day. We would get up and spend time weeding together. While we weeded we talked and laughed. Although at the time I hated getting up early, when I could have been sleeping in, I now look back fondly on our weekly weeding days.
When we were teenagers my mother made us take turns helping prepare meals. Not only did we learn to cook, a valuable skill, we also spent one on one time with our mom. We all have a close relationship with our mom. In fact my dad often complains that when we call we always ask for mom. Another valuable talking time was while we cleaned up the kitchen after a meal.
Working together as a family gives you a common goal. When you achieve the goal everyone feels better. Before taking a family vacation my parents would sit us down and ask every child to contribute a certain amount of money. We worked together to raise money for our family vacation. Since we all contributed the family vacation meant even more.
Every family member should have responsibilities in the home. My children are required to help clean up and clear their dishes. My son has the additional responsibility of making his bed and emptying the garbages around the house. When a family works together to maintain a home they can all feel a pride in its appearance and a sense of accomplishment.
One of the things that your family can work on is school. Every day growing up our kitchen table would become the homework table. We would spread our books out and study as a group. My mom would take turns helping those who needed it or I often helped my younger siblings as well.
Working together gives you one more opportunity to spend time and accomplish goals as a family. How does your family work together?
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