At the end of a busy festive season family time provides an opportunity to refocus our energies for the coming year. Many of us spend our December vacations with extended families or friends. And even though it is something we look forward to there if often some tension. So when we return home it is a chance to centre ourselves again.
During the holiday there are many other influences: new places to visit, a great deal of activity or many people to see. It ends up often being a very busy time of the year. So we may return home feeling we actually are in need of a vacation!
Centering
Family time allows us to regroup our energies and attention. It enables us to become comfortable in our safe haven with our loved ones. We settle back into the comfort of what we know and our daily routine.
Close family time early in the year is a time to just be. It is a time to recoup our drive and motivation for the year ahead. We quietly center ourselves in preparation for the New Year.
Checking in
Family time provides the chance to check in with our children and hear how they feel about the year. Ensure that this remains a light discussion. So use fun family time while you are doing normal day to day activities to do a quick check in with each of your children.
When you are having a family meal it may be appropriate to hear from everyone what they would like to see for the family as a whole. But keep it an easy chat and stay away from getting into any arguments. Allow ideas to bubble up without criticising them. Instead, store them in the back of your mind for implementation later during the year.
Reconnecting
Family time is a time for re-connecting. This is particularly relevant if you have teenagers. Often during vacations our teenagers are doing activities with their friends. So family time at the beginning of the year is a means of rebuilding a connection with your teenagers again.
This enables us to maintain a close connection with them as they work through these often turbulent years.
Vision for the year
Some corporate executives who are family orientated like to focus on ways each year to keep the family members close. This may include family weekend activities or planning a special vacation for the family.
Family time enables them to talk with the family about what they would like or to share their own views on options.
One corporate executive comes up with a theme every year for each of her children. In alone time with each of them she gives each of them something that symbolises their specific theme for the year. This time sets the scene for closer bonding and is a time of precious communication between a mother and her children.
These bonding times can bring a calm and centredness to the start of a new year. It is a time of strengthening the bonds. It also allows us to drop down into a heart space where we focus on what really matters: close relationships and creating memorable moments.
It is these priceless times that remain ingrained in our children. It is these family “rituals” that our children will remember one day when we are no longer there. And it is these rituals that are carried over from one generation to the next.
So how do you want to set the scene for the coming year for you and your family? What would you like your family to remember about this year?
Children are particularly sensitive to the energy we exude. If we are pre-occupied or frenetic they sense this and may act out. However, if we remain calm and relaxed it has a peaceful effect on everyone in the home.
If you would like to find ways to make this year a positively unforgettable year for the family, family counselling may be something you wish to consider.