5 USEFUL TIPS FOR STRENGTHENING FAMILY BOND AND UNITY

After one has gotten exhausted from the stress and caprices of the society, the family is the only place to turn to for refreshing.  The family should be a place where one is suppose to find comfort and succor from all the troubles of life, and if you’re not having that in your family then that means that you have been leaving your family’s development and bonding to chance; and anything left to chance has never been observed to turn out well.

The communication pattern and the way things are done in your family go a long way to affect the connection and relationship between the members of your family.  How can one find comfort and succor in a family where love and unity is not deeply rooted?

The importance of love and unity in the family cannot be over emphasized: as it greatly affect the stability of the family and the functionality and performance of those involved in it. One way of ensuring that your kids and your spouse give their best where ever and whenever they are called upon is by ensuring that your home is a place where love is breed and inculcated in the hearts of as many that comes in contact with it.

The job of making the home a breeding ground for love and unity solely lies in the hands of the parents. If the parents are loving and welcoming to each other it automatically robs off on their kids: as they’ll always strive to want to make mum and dad happy since that’s what they’ve observe in their parents.

So how can one make the home a breeding ground for love and unity?

• Develop the habit of fellowshipping and praying together:

As hard as I would try not to sound religious here, there’s this saying that goes thus, “a family that prays together stays together.” Fellowshipping together as a family not only brings the family closer to God but also brings the family members closer to each other.

 When the kids see the unfeigned love of their parents for God, they would want to follow thus. As a parent, your job is half done if you can get your kids to believe in God at an early stage in life and make them understand what God and you as their parents require of them.

The mistake most parents make is letting their kids grow up with no knowledge of God and later trying to force them to church. Such practice is really difficult as they hardly see any reason why you should force them to church when it‘s their life involved.

 When you bring your kids closer to God early enough, it creates that reverence for God and you as their parents in their hearts early enough and they wouldn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that relationship.

When I was much younger my parents used to appoint days each of us would take charge of our family devotion and it really made us know God more and draw us closer as a family. Even if it’s just five or ten minutes in a day, ensure that you fellowship with your family daily: as it’s one of the fastest ways of building family bond.

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• Eat together as a family:

This is one of the fastest ways of building family bond.  Eating time is akin to fellowshipping time because it brings every member of the family together and it increases the level of communications and interactions among members of the family.

When you eat together as a family, there you have an opportunity to know each member of your family better: you observe their moods, you see how they relate with one another, you can talk with them about their day or whatever might interest them, etc.

you make your children understand the meaning and importance of family unity and togetherness when you imbibe in them the culture of eating together from an early stage in their life. Families that practiced this habit of eating together always have ways of settling their differences amicably and stick closer to each other in the times of need or any difficult situations of life.

Develop this habit of eating together as a family and you’ll be amazed at how well you’ll get to know and draw closer to your family members and the level of family bonding you all will experience altogether.  Eating together as a family is really a great way of knowing more about your spouse and your kids as it strengthens the bond you people share as a family.

• Spend time together as a family:

Make your family your priority as a parent – I’m talking to the mum and dad here.

You know more about your spouse and kids by spending time with them. The time you spend with your family as parents, create a kind of importance in the hearts of your kids; Kids most times base their importance to their parents on the amount of time and attention they invest on them.

 You might be meeting all their financial needs  and think that all is well but you can actually do a lot more just by spending some little more time with your family; as this strengthens and increase the bond you have as a family. Spend time with your family – washing favorite programs, going to events, taking them out, etc and you’ll be the one to be happy for it when you see the increase in love and unity that would erupt as a result of just a simple action.

• Be involved in their activities:

 I remembered the day my mum followed me to one of my school’s inter house sport competition and watched me run a 200m race. I came out third in that race but celebrated like I was the one that came out first. Why? Because my mum was there to see me run and cheer me up.

Your spouse and your kids will hardly forget those activities they perform with you involved in it. When last did you go with your kids to watch a game or an event they’re partaking in? How often do you play with your kids and your spouse?

If you want to leave a lasting impression in the heart of your spouse and your kids mostly, get involved in their activities as it would help you know more about them and also strengthen your family bond.

• Be careful what you say and do to your spouse in the presence of your kids:

Understand as a parent that you’re the first book your kids are going to read in determining their actions for one another and for those outside. When your kids observe that there’s a strong bond of love, unity and respect between their parents, they tend to replicate that toward one another and those outside.

I’m not saying as a couple that you people will not encounter disagreement and disunity once in a while. But don’t ever let it get to the point that your kids will start asking if everything is right between mummy and daddy. Try to sort out your differences without you kids knowing as much as possible as they build their idea of relationship with one another and the outside world based on what they see mummy and daddy do.

Strengthening the bond of love and unity in the family is paramount to the growth and development of the family and how the kids will eventually relate with each other when they grow up. Your family is a reflection of you(parents) and how each member of the family relates with one another is solely dependent on what you as their parents have been able to imbibe in them over the years. Make some of these little tips a practice in your family and you’ll be amazed at how closely drawn together you all will be.

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