Tammy Stoner, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, provides presentations, coaching and counseling services. As the developer of the Teddy Bear Technique® Toolkit she demonstrates fast and fun ways to engage in storytelling for adults and children, and quickly reach the hard to reach. As author, presenter and coach, services are guaranteed to create breakthrough results!
Seven Steps to Strengthening Families
The family that plays together, stays together is the wisdom of the ages. You have heard it before and so have I, yet how often do families play together in 2006? We don't. We are busy with various schedules. We work more and we play less. It's just the way it is.
Rituals are powerful connections for strengthening families. Rituals can be as simple as eating dinner together and saying a prayer before the meal, to elaborate family gatherings celebrating anniversaries, religious events or even birthdays.
The more families participate in rituals, the stronger the family bonds. Researchers have even discovered that when children eat dinner with their parents, they earn higher grades in school, then children who do not. Imagine that- we can improve school performance just by sitting down together and sharing a family meal. Sounds simple, doesn't it?
As a social worker I spend a lot of time encouraging families to build connections with each other. There are seven things that you can do right away to improve the communication in your family.
• Establish a game night once per week. Each week a different member chooses the game to be played. Make popcorn and turn off the television. Turn off the computer. Focus on playing the game with each other.
• Put a bird feeder in the yard. A simple feeder in the backyard will encourage interaction between members. It’s easy and it’s fun.
• Cook breakfast together. Plan the meal. Food is an integral part of family life. Determine who will make what items. Share the responsibility.
• Explore a new hobby. There is a wide range of activities out in the world. Find the one you would enjoy and involve everybody in the hobby.
• Grow a garden. Everyone will like something in the garden. Some like the flowers. Others like the herbs, others the plants.
• Plant a tree. A tree is easy to plant and will last a long time. Plant it in memory of someone special or some special event.
• Take lots of photographs. Sometimes families take lots of photographs when children are little and then ease off as children get older.
Families that participate in some of these rituals will have stronger bonds with each other then those who don’t. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Try one new activity this week and let me know if it makes a difference in your family.
Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears: Reprinted with permission from Tammy Stoner LCSW at
http://www.TeddyBearTherapy.com 1-770 639-7719
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