With the Near Year upon us, it’s time for reflection. Pause to think about what your hopes and dreams are for your family. Do you have adventures you’d like to plan? Have you scheduled more family time into your calendar? But more basically, have you thought about what’s most essential to creating the family you love to be with? Do you crave slower moments, wish to hear more positivity, embrace your home being tidy? This is your year to create the family environment you’ve always wanted but didn’t have the guidance to see it through.
Week 1: Here are some activities to do together this week as you begin to create a more connected family. Set time aside a few times this first week as you establish a new routine. Some call this a family meeting, but I like to keep it less formal. We tend to have our family time in the car or during Sunday Suppers-doesn’t matter when or where just as long as you carve out distraction-free moments for family discussion.
Write your Hopes & Dreams-Gather together and talk about what each envision your family to look like, sound like, feel like. For example, do you need more organization and order, more quiet and calm voices, or more hugs? Be honest with one another and really listen to what’s being said. Don’t offer feedback but instead jot down opinions. These can be very enlightening and a future source for conversations as well as areas to focus on.
Create Top 5-Make a list of all the values, qualities, beliefs that are important to each person. Combine and narrow down the list to determine what’s crucial to your unique family. Are you respectful, giving, positive, patient, faithful? These are the beliefs you hold dear to your hearts.
What’s Essential? Now look back at your Hopes & Dreams and Top 5 beliefs. Find similarities and merge them into a family manifesto, pledge, mission statement…a guiding mantra that your family finds essential and will live by! Write it, print it, display it…live it! ❤︎
the Essentialist Family 