A Pew Research Center Foundation study found that 69% of people surveyed on what makes them happy during the holidays reported spending time with family and friends. In addition, 86% of participants reported they will be attending a gathering with family or friends on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
If this is true, why are so many families spending less time together? One survey found families are spending less than 40 minutes of quality time each day together. This is despite survey participants reporting they would like more time together.
The benefits of making time for family are lengthy. It builds a stronger bond between family members, builds confidence, encourages communication and develops positive behaviors. Believe it or not, spending time with family can be a stress-reliever.
You may be thinking you want to spend more time with family, but you are not sure where you will find that time. Between work responsibilities, family obligations, school activities, and other duties you feel overwhelmed by, balancing family time may be another stressor.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to make time for family during the holidays. They are discussed below:
Volunteer as a Family
Volunteering is rewarding. Doing it as a family makes it even more rewarding. You create a memory that will last forever. Attached to that memory is pride in your family, and feelings of gratitude that you were able to give back with your family by your side.
Giving back during the holidays, helps make time with family, while also keeping the true meaning of the holidays a priority. Plus, you can do your part to help those in need, who do not have family.
Cook a Meal as a Family
Cooking together can be fun. Assign each family member a chore to create the meal of your dreams. You will improve how you work together, as well as making time for family during the holidays.
If one of your family members playfully hits you in the head with a piece of food, return the favor and have an all-out playful food fight. Food fights can reduce tension and stress and make you laugh. The physical and mental benefits of simply laughing are incredible.
Find ways to keep your family laughing together.
Decorate as a Family
Just like cooking a meal, decorating your home for the holidays can create a fun activity for you and your family. This activity can lessen your to-do list leaving you not left to do all the decorating by yourself, which can be stressful.
Let everyone decorate the way they want to. Having perfectly placed decorations can be boring. Instead, get creative and have some fun with how you decorate. The more time you spend decorating, the more you are making time for family during the holidays.
Have Extended Mealtimes
Eating a meal together, a few decades ago, was important. Families would gather at the same time each day, eat and discuss their days.
Today, there are some families who still eat together for the time limit has lessened. When it used to be an hour or more, is now less than a half hour for most.
Instead of talking to each other, many family members are on social media during mealtime.
Change mealtimes during the holidays to include a no-tech zone, so communication can happen. Take this time to get to know your family members on a deeper level.
Leave Work at Work
If you are like most hard-working people, work duties extend into home life, especially during the holidays when you are trying to get end of year tasks completed. Sadly, work duties are replacing family time. This can have negative effects on your family.
When you leave work, leave work. Do not bring papers or projects home with you. Make the effort to spend the time you have outside of the office focused on making time for family.
Reward Night
Create a reward night, a celebration of life night. You can make time for family during the holidays by creating an event where each of your family members are honored for all their talents and positive achievements.
It is so easy through the year to be so busy that you only focus on the negative. This affects self-esteem and makes family members feel underappreciated.
With a reward night, you only focus on the positive, showing gratitude for your deserving family and to yourself.
Make Your Family the Excuse
You know it is true, you are constantly wishing for that perfect excuse that gets you out of participating in activities you hate. You do not want to help plan the office party, but you cannot say no. You do not want to help your friend shop, but you do not have an excuse not to help.
What you may not realize is that you have the perfect excuse, that you need to spend time with your family. There is nothing more important during the holidays than appreciating and strengthening the bond between the ones you love.
Simply tell everyone asking for your time that your family needs you, because they do.
Attend Family Counseling Session
Did you know that you can attend counseling even if you do not have major problems? During the holidays, everyone is busier and more stressed than usual. Going to counseling can help your family maintain balance, strengthen communication, and ensure you spend quality time together.
Family counseling can be better than a family meeting. At meetings, there is no one to facilitate the conversation, allowing for many distractions that can interrupt quality time.
Making time for family to go to counseling is a positive move that takes the pressure off of you to keep the communication on track.
In conclusion, making time for family during the holidays can be a top priority. Most likely, the reason you are so busy in other areas of your life is to provide a great life for your family.
Give your family the best gift ever this holiday season, the gift of spending quality time together.