6 New Year's Resolutions for a Happier Family
Quite a lot of people start the new year off with a clean slate and make resolutions, hoping that his year they will stick to at least some of them. Why not make it a family activity? Here are six New Year's resolutions for a happier family that you might want to add to your list.Exercise with your kids. Spending time with your kids is a priority, but that doesn't mean that you have to skip your workout. Not only is exercising together good for your health, it will also bring you closer together as shared activities are good for bonding. Remember that working out doesn't have to be boring. Playing basketball or hiking are both fun and healthy.
Take up volunteering. It is important that your teach your kids about the significance of contributing to community and helping out people less fortunate than yourself. And the best way to teach is to become their role model. You can volunteer in any way that fits your family, from visiting a children's hospital to helping organize charity fundraisers.
Get unplugged more often. How often do you spend time with your family without being distracted by gadgets and watching TV? Promise each other that you will spend a least one day a month unplugged. Make it a family day: you can play board games, read books, spend time outdoors, cook dinner together, etc. There are a lot of fun family activities that do not require phones or any other gadgets.
Share household chores between each other. Having all the housework fall in one person, whoever it is, is not fair. So you'd better work out a system for sharing household responsibilities between all family members. Of course, kids will only do chores they can handle, but they still should help you around the house. If there are chores no one wants to do, you can use a chore rotation system.
Save money. Money saving applies not only to adults. As parents you should teach your kids to spend money responsibly. But this doesn't mean cutting their allowance, this means helping them understand the difference between “need” and “want”, teaching them to compare prices and other basic financial lessons, etc. Just like with volunteering, you personal example is very important, so you'd better start budgeting your money wiser.
Eat healthier. Healthier meals mean healthier family members. You don't have to change all your eating habits at once, take baby steps. Start with cooking a healthy breakfast, making sure that your kitchen is always stocked with fresh fruit and other healthy foods, try out new quick and healthy recipes for family meals, stop drinking soda, replace cookies and chips with carrot sticks, apple slices and other healthy snacks, etc.