Whenever our family would go to relatives’ homes for holidays or special get togethers, I would always hear comments like, “I can’t believe how well your kids get along with each other.” I must admit, my children have always gotten along well and it was obvious that they cared about each other. My daughter (Courtney) is 3 1/2 years older than my son (Adam). Today, at ages 25 & 21, they live in separate states, yet they remain very close.
As I think back on what we did to foster this great relationship, I know it was our faithful prayers for them, our church attendance every Sunday, and our “Family Fun Nights” we had every Monday night. Once we started having these Family Fun Nights, my kids couldn’t wait for Mondays to get here. I believe these Family Fun Nights not only sealed their relationship with each other, but also taught them how to empathize with each other as well as instilling true Christian values and morals. So what is a Family Fun Night? Let me explain:
First - EAT We picked a night that worked for our family - a night that we could all be together at home. We decided on Monday nights. We first had dinner together, but the special thing was that everyone had a chance to pick their favorite meal. Since there were four in our family, we started with the oldest choosing first. So my husband would choose on the first Monday, I would choose on the second Monday, and so forth. The idea was that at least once a week, we would all eat a meal together at home. For larger families, you can double up (parents pick a meal together, or one picks the main meal, other picks dessert, etc).
Second - LEARN After the meal, we would gather together for the fun lesson. And I do mean FUN. We used some excellent books published by Heritage Builders Publishing (heritagebuilders.com) called Family Nights Tool Chest. They have several books with different topics. Our favorite was the Simple Science book. These activities have a purpose and a message from the Bible that really drives the point home for the kids.
Third - PRAY After these fun activities, we would get out the notebook and write down our prayer requests for the week. We would then go around in a circle and pray for the person next to us. I believe this was the most helpful part of our nights together. To hear our kids talk about someone at school who was bothering them, or praying to do well on a test, and then have them pray about it was not only helpful for us as parents, but it also gave each child the ability to empathize with each other and to see what the other was struggling with.
Fourth - PLAY After our prayer time, we would choose a game to play together. The game was chosen by whoever chose the meal for the week. The adults always wanted to play sedentary games where there wasn’t much moving involved, except around the game board. The kids always wanted to play video games or hide and seek. We would play the game for about 30 minutes or an hour. Then the kids had a few minutes to play or read before being tucked into bed with prayers, bedtime stories, and good night kisses.
The entire Family Fun Night only takes about 2 hours. Assuming you get 8 hours of sleep every night, you would have 16 hours a day to do as you wish. Spread that over 7 days and you have 112 hours every week. When you think about it this way, spending 2 hours a week building up your family and doing something fun together that will have lasting results is really a no brainer!
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