Family Life

Family can be difficult sometimes, but ultimately there the best thing going. family should always be there when you need them and sometimes we just need to know the right way of dealing with them! the first thing we need to remember is that no-one is perfect-everyone makes mistakes and sometimes its just not worth holding a grudge. Family are your family no matter what you do which is kinda what makes them so great!

whether you have a good relationship with your family or not, there are a few things that are key to keeping it or making it stronger
- forgiveness, without it no one can move on and try to do better
- communication, if you don't talk about stuff hows anything going to be achieved?
- honesty, they are your family lying just makes it worse and harder to move on
- teamwork! being part of a family is being part of a team, you work together and it works a lot better
- love, its what makes everything worth it

okay so no-one is going to have all of these handed over to them on a silver platter, it takes time and effort but the final outcome is incredible! when you start bringing these factors into family life, it becomes so much easier to be with each other and deal with any issues that come up.
also, no one is going to have the 'happy family' picture perfect family all the time and that's where the forgiveness kicks in, we have to learn that our expectations of what family 'should be' aren't very realistic sometimes and remember that everyone is only human and is prone to making mistakes.

10 tips for improving family life!

1. if your feeling angry or upset, take some time to cool off so that when you confront the issue, you have a calm and collected attitude instead of hot firing
2. if you've done something wrong, fess up! there is no point lying..they're your family!
3. you got a different idea? speak up! your opinion counts, but don't be harsh with how you put it
4. conflict between family members? approach with caution and suggest going elsewhere (separately) for half an hour and coming back to discuss it a bit later?
5. why not try a 'teambuilding' activity? board games, cooking, a walk somewhere, being together is what counts
6. live away from home? send a letter home with separate bits for each member, they'll appreciate the personal touch
7. make an effort to spend time with each member individually, you can go do something or just chat but its worth the effort
8. as a family, choose an activity for everyone to do, then get each person to have a specific 'job' or 'role' during the activity chosen
9. in the morning, everyone decide on 1 rule for each member of the family that they must follow throughout all of the day -it will be a laugh and a chance to tactfully get some things done! (i.e no sarcasm, no stupid jokes, no negative comments)
10. try not to alienate who your family is, subtle changes are good-not everyone is good at handling new ideas so take it easy!

hope all goes well xx