Are you finding that each member of the family appears to be in their own little world when they get home from school or work? Shutting themselves away in their rooms or disengaging from those in the room when the TV is switched on? Then here’s how to get the family involved at home and functioning how it should be.
1. Start eating together – at the dinner table
According to a Gallup poll, families aren’t sitting together to eat a meal in the evenings and catch up like they used to, with only 53% of adults with children under 18 eating dinner at home as a family every night of the week.
The rest is eating separately or sometimes not at all. With this in mind, if you are one of the 47% not eating as a family it might be time to start the tradition up to get everyone involved, talking about their day and forming better relationships with one another.
2. Assign each family member a chore
And do them together. This could be something as simple as cleaning up after dinner, or preparing to eat. While you cook get the kids to set the table while your partner sorts drinks for everyone; this feeling of teamwork will help everyone become more involved in their home life.
Involve everyone when it comes to cleaning chores too, it will make sure they work together and that the house is kept clean all the time, making that Molly Maid end of tenancy cleaning job a lot easier should you move home in the future.
3. Ask about your family’s day
Ask about how your partner’s day at work went, what the kids got up to at school and encourage them to do the same and to take an active interest. Help the kids with homework and take some time to listen, as well as encouraging others to do the same.
4. Let everyone have a say in decisions
Do you want to change the colors in the living room? Or are you planning something more drastic such as adding an extension or even moving house? Involve everyone in the family in the decision-making and allow them to offer their thoughts and have an input in the final say. Your children will be excited when you choose the paint color they liked for the living room feature wall or when you take everyone along to a house viewing to gauge their reactions and take them into consideration.
5. Plan evenings together
Some families might feel a little pressured at the prospect of suddenly eating dinner together every evening, and sometimes schedules clash with the evening meal plans, so instead you could set up an evening once a week where you stay in together as a family and do something at home. This could be a Mexican themed food night, featuring lots of fajitas and nachos and making the food together or a game night with Pictionary and Uno that should get lots of giggles out of everyone (just avoid Monopoly at all costs, it’s a game that tears families apart.)
