A baby cries. The dogs bark. The “man of the house” stares at the television all day, while the full volume of the TV set drowns all other noises. Moments later, a teenage son races towards the door and slams it shut. Does this home look like yours?
It’s unfortunate that many households find themselves in a similar situation. Yours doesn’t have to be filled with stress. You can do your share to foster harmony in your household. If you do, you will begin to have a real family to return to at the end of the day.
Stress is an inherent part of family life. However, you can manage the pressures and learn to keep your home healthy and welcoming for everybody. Upholding some core values and attitudes will help you get there.
They are:
1. Organization. A disorganized household is chaotic, stressful and time consuming to handle. An organized home is the exact opposite.
Consider starting small in your home. For instance, get one corner of the room fixed first before organizing the entire floor. If you chunk down your organization duties to smaller tasks instead of a grand whole, you will feel less overwhelmed about managing your household.
2. Communication. Each member benefits from proactive communication. Brush up on yours. Proactive communication can reduce misunderstandings and enable you and your household to accomplish more things. With love, acceptance and appreciation in the air, everybody will feel inspired to work together.
3. Group Meals. You’re all busy, and you could very well become strangers under the same roof when you continuously fail to make time for each other. Strive to make dinnertime an opportunity to connect with your household. You will all soon learn to integrate dinnertime into your busy schedules.
4. Group Recreation. Fun times together can help strengthen the ties in your household. Set aside time for group recreation activities occasionally. A family night or two is great. Plan for it and let your household take turns in choosing the activity.
5. Unconditional Love. Strong bonds can help your family stay intact amid stressful situations. Work on tightening and securing your emotional bonds to each other. Demonstrate unconditional love in your home.
All members want to feel accepted and welcomed for who they are, not for what they do. Make your household a loving, caring and supportive family that can forgive you when you commit mistakes.
6. Support. Do something extra for the members of your household. You might have your own itinerary for instance, but your presence at an art show will mean the world to your child. Pledge your support and show it. It’s not enough to think how much love you feel for your family. Be there for them.
7. House Rules. Set behavioral expectations in your home. These can help you manage your household systematically.
Call a family meeting. Brainstorm together what your family rules should be. Give everybody a chance to speak out. To keep everybody happy, you might need to make compromises too.
A household built on love is less susceptible to the ravages of stress. Be kind to each other. If each one of you makes an effort to fight stress and stay happy, you can transform your once-chaotic household into the warm and caring home you envisioned.