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Strengthening Family Ties
What Makes a Family Great?
Great families find and create joy in being together
When you think of a "great family," you may think more of what it feels like than what it looks like, and you probably have a pretty clear idea of what you want. You want a family that makes you feel loved, accepted, understood, safe, needed, respected, and trusted. You need to be appreciated for your uniqueness and challenged to be the best you can be. Look at what "great" families do to make each other feel this way.
What do great families do?
Strong, caring, happy families:
Create a sense of belonging by making family a priority. They plan time for family activities and events and respect that time. Family members are expected to participate and feel they are an important part of the family unit.
Show love and appreciation for each other. They learn to be comfortable communicating their affection and give each other "gifts of love." No one, no matter how old he is, outgrows the need to feel loved and appreciated.
Stay in touch with family and friends that live far away. They do not let distance and time erode their bonds. They find ways to stay connected and enrich their relationships. They make sacrifices to get together and support each other, especially during the hard times.
Cultivate a strong sense of family identity, rich in traditions. The rituals and traditions they create and pass on help them feel unique as a family and connected to each other. The more unusual the tradition, the better.
Develop a family history through keepsakes, stories, and so forth. They are interested in their heritage and often create family trees, interview older family members, and treasure keepsakes from distant relatives. They keep journals and write down the family stories that are passed down through generations.
Honor and respect a set of family values. They know what the family values are, talk about them often, and help each other make important decisions with those values in mind. Many of their family traditions revolve around the values they want to teach their children.
Celebrate life together! They get together with extended family and friends and find reasons to celebrate life often. They all participate and help in the planning and preparation, so that one person does not feel burdened. Above all, they find and create joy in being together.
(Excerpted with permission from The Little Things are the Big Things" by Lorle Campos. Lorle is the mother of five children ages 5 to 23 and the founder of Once Upon a Family.)
Once Upon a Family is the leading authority on family connections with a mission to help families connect in loving, joyful, and meaningful ways. Browse elegant family keepsakes, inspirational tradition ideas and unique gift items to simplify and enrich your family life.
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