Our families are our lifelines. They are our primary source of love and strength. They are our first intimate human connections before friends and romantic relationships, and they are the most important connections one can possibly have.
Yet when the chaos of our daily lives take over, we sometimes forget that family should come first no matter what. More often than not, many of us are guilty of forgetting to call our parents, or postponing a promised family vacation, or spending more time at the office when we should be spending more time with our kids. Sometimes it takes a major crisis, such as the current economic upheaval, for us to realize that the bonds we have with our family is more important than anything else.
Last week, we focused on pets–which can and should be considered family members! This week, we are stepping back to look at families as a whole.
I want to ask all of you here on Intent: how do you keep your family connections strong? Especially in busy times and stressful times, how do you take the time to nurture and take care of the people in your family? Though parenting may be the first thing that comes to mind, the topic of family also relates to your siblings, your parents, your extended family members, your step-families, your in-laws… and the list goes on!
Do you have a special family ritual that you do on a weekly basis? Do you make family websites and newsletters? Do you share unique hobbies or special day trips with your family? Share all your family-bonding ideas on Intent and don’t forget to categorize your blog post under "Parenting & Family."
In the next few days, I will be sharing my own personal family stories and ideas. As usual, we will be rounding up the best family-related content at the end of the week. I look forward to reading all your posts!
Dear Mallika, what a great idea! Very often we sacrifice our beloved family members to so many things (work, party, hairdresser). It's time to pay tribute to them!
Dear Mallika,
beautiful topic. thanks for putting up this topic on the board.
Wish you love, peace and happiness.
Trisha
Well talking about bonding with the family. April is the traditional new year season in this part of the world and offers great many activities for family bonding. Most people go to their home towns to be with their families and do the traditional activities during this seeason and this time around it's an extended holiday as the fullmoon holiday and good friday preceeded the weekend and the new year holidays are just after the weekend. We of course went out of town for couple of days – sorts of a family trip, visited few places that are historically significant and couple of places that are personally significant to the family. And the traditional activities done during auspicious times for the new year are all family activities; such as taking the first meal of the new year together with the family and doing 'ganu-denu' (traslated to english as 'giving and taking') are all occasions to increase your family ties. Then we have couple of invites from the extended family for dinner and lunch which again is a time to renew and strengthen those ties. . . But on the flip side of the story these times could be a great opportunity to become aware of your personal idiosynchronicities with your family too. So if you have a hobby to keep yourself occupied, better still could carry the lappy around with you so that you could finish some important office work, you could still have some peace and time to reflect on your own self and preferences … while happy bonding takes place at the same time !
One way that I like to strengthen the ties I have with my family is by sending out a picture of some sort of flower every Friday. I call it 'Flower Fridays.' I usually text the picture and a quick note just to share my love.
Close your eyes and feel your breath.
BB.
LancelotduLac
“how do you keep your family connections strong?”
I remember to do a manisika p
i call my parents everyday just to be in touch