It’s A New Year!

It’s a new year! Take some time to reflect. Put pen to paper and jot down the first thoughts that come to mind. Don’t put any restrictions on what you write down – just let you thoughts flow naturally. Here are a few prompts to help you kick start the process.

This year I will…

This year I will not…

Family resolutions…

Work resolutions…

Health resolutions…

Relationship resolutions…

Things that make me happy…

New things I would love to try…

Family adventures I would love to go on…

Other resolutions…

Being happy is an essential part of being human. It lifts your spirits and it may lift the spirits of others around you. But if we want our families to be happier, then we need to find ways to make family life FUN! So here are 5 ways to boost your family happiness in 2018 and help make fun a habit…

Smile more

Every day we are given the choice of whether we want to be happy around our kids or if we want to be irritable and grumpy. Sometimes parents aren’t responsive – perhaps because they’re busy juggling work commitments. Imagine a child whose every interaction with their parent is met with a look of serious concentration or contemplation – not necessarily angry or annoyed, just preoccupied. Now, imagine that when that same child looks at their parent they receive a warm smile. Which would have the most positive influence on the child’s wellbeing?

It goes without saying that smiles help improve relationships and they do seem to make life more fun. So make a commitment to yourself to smile more this year!

Celebrate – whatever!

Our lives are potentially full of reasons to celebrate. Our children experience some form of success regularly – from winning a swimming race, to putting away their bag without being asked.

Mix it up and celebrate in different ways. It could be a hug, high-five, kiss, bowl of ice-cream, trip to the movies, a special date with mum or dad or a family dinner at a favourite restaurant.

For best results, celebrations should be spontaneous, unexpected and a one-off event. They should not be used as a carrot to bribe a certain behaviour.

We don’t need to make our children’s minor experiences into front-page news, but we can have fun when they do well. Do something more than nod ‘well done’ while chopping carrots for dinner. Pause. Get into the moment. Respond actively and constructively. Celebrate!

Quality Time

Try to organise some time together as a family a few times a week – perhaps for three meals in a week you could sit down to eat as a family. This will give you all a chance to connect and talk about the important issues, as well as the more fun topics. Ask your children to help you with chores like setting the table for dinner. They may protest but they will feel included in your life rather than being an outsider.

Learn new things together

Most children are naturally inquisitive and deeply curious. They love to learn new things. Don’t limit learning to the walls of your child’s classroom. Teachers are always looking for ways to improve education for their pupils – and one of the fundamental ways of doing this is parental engagement.

Pile on to the couch, and read a favourite book together. Go on a nature hike and see what you might learn on the trail. You can have fun baking, gardening or learning a new sport with each other.

Learning is both fun and potentially profound when it is done together. Exploration, learning and curiosity are fun and make families happy. It simply requires that we are willing to be creative, explore ideas, and respond to our children’s questions with enthusiasm and interest.

Surprises

Days, weeks and months can fly by without anything too exciting, uplifting or really fun happening at home. So bearing this in mind, why not surprise your kids and put a smile on their faces, anytime, any day? Children love surprises, so learn the art of the surprise note! It can be as simple as just leaving them a message or note somewhere unexpected to let them know that you are thinking of them. If you are a parent who travels frequently for work leave your kids a message to find as a reminder that even though you are far away you still love, miss and think of them.

There are so many things to think about at the start of a new year but only you can ring the changes. When it comes to resolutions and a happier life, do one, do all, and start living the life you want to live.

Make 2018 your year!