Incredible Family Gatherings

Sundays are for laughter and family! What's your favorite game to play as a family!  We had a birthday to celebrate and the birthday boy wanted to play a little Wiffle Ball in the park… What a fabulous and fun family game!

Like everyone else, I feel overwhelmed with the daily demands of hectic schedules, trying to balance quality time with quantity time.  Cultivating family togetherness should incorporate both quality and quantity.  Quantity time creates a safe environment and fosters a sense of security for our homes.  Basically, forming a home base where our families can feel safe, secure and accepted.  Quality time is the family time we create intentionally.  Important family bonding, which can last a lifetime, can either be spent in an ordinary way or you can have an extraordinary family gathering. Because I am a notorious list-maker, I have listed some tips for a few incredible family gatherings:

• Make a Time Capsule.  Celebrate your family now and later by preserving chosen family artifacts by your family members!  Place your child's reports, artwork, movie stubs, family journals, a printout page from Facebook or family blog, etc. into an archival box, and stow away in a cool dark place.  Do not bury your artifacts, since they are usually a soggy mess when unearthed.  Instead add a silica-gel pack (pack usually comes inside vitamin containers) to absorb the moisture and set a date for the family reveal in 25 years!  *Tip: Items that usually do not stand the test of time are food, delicate clothing, tapes/discs (technology may be outdated on reveal day).

• Volunteer Together.  Quality time spent with your kids as they learn about the joy of helping others.  It's most enjoyable to have your child/children choose a topic they love.  If they love animals, then a pet store supply run or visit to the animal shelter would be ideal.  Most kids enjoy the outdoors, so a day cleaning up the nature trails or your neighborhood park is picture-perfect.  Other ideas are a visit to the nursing home or making cards for sick people in the hospital.  This is time well spent, while your children learn valuable lessons of life.

• Plant Something.  It's best to plant something that is easy to grow and will encourage your child to eat healthy.  Try cherry tomatoes, zucchini or bush beans and use a one-by-two-foot-self-watering planter.  Your co-farmer/s can be in charge of watering and harvesting and your family will have something delicious to share at the dinner table.

• Get Cooking.  Share an old family recipe with your children or create a new family recipe tradition.  Try baking bread.  If your kids love to mold Play-Doh and make mud pies, then they'll be experts at kneading dough.  When their masterpiece is done, they will feel a sense of pride and togetherness.

• Create Self-Portraits.  Even if you are no Picasso, drawing self-portraits of your family members magically captures the present time.  This could be a comical and memorable family event to share at your next family reunion or just with your immediate family.  You can scan and upload your art masterpieces, then transfer the images onto everything from postage stamps to water bottles to calendars for the holidays.

These unique family bonding events can be celebrated at your next family reunion or with your immediate family at the park or at home on a rainy day.  Enjoy and get creative with your ideas!  My next blog post will have five more incredible ideas for your next family gathering… but until then, here are a few more pictures of our family Wiffle ball game.