These days, everyone in the family is living their own lives. As a parent, you could be too busy putting food on the table and making sure that your entire family is free from harm. And your kids could be busy finishing their education or using all their free time to bond with their friends. This means families rarely get their much-needed quality time.
It’s normal for members of the family to not be as close to one another, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be in each other’s lives. As the head of the household, you can address this gap in your relationship to create opportunities for you to bond and spend time together, no matter how short.
For instance, you can take a look around your house and think of something that you can build with your own two hands. This is the perfect excuse to contact your screw and fixing distributor or maybe even your contractor friend who can get you high-quality materials at a cheaper price. This way, you can bond with your family and build something that can improve your home. Here are other reasons to do it:
Spend Time in Nature and Away from Screens
With the world currently in the digital age, it’s getting pretty difficult to keep your children or even yourself away from your devices. That’s because everything can be done through a screen—school, entertainment, and even work. This leads to too much screen time, which means fewer opportunities for people to be out and about.
By encouraging your children to help you build DIY construction projects to improve your home, not only will you be getting additional helping hands to assist you during the project, but you’ll also be getting yourselves away from your screens. Through this, you will get to spend more time under the sun.
People nowadays are leaning more towards the sedentary lifestyle because they can access almost everything from their phones. They can order everything online, play games, watch movies, contact their friends, and basically do anything without having to get up from their seat on the couch.
However, because you’re the one initiating the bonding time, your kids might be more likely to forego their usual routines. Of course, you can’t force them to join you just because you’re the parent, but you can encourage them to help you out and see the benefits of spending precious quality time with one another.
Bond with Your Kids Over Common Interests
The perfect time to get to know your kids better is while doing the project. This is because you can finally take their eyes away from being glued to their screens and locked up in their rooms, which means you have all the time in the world to discover who they are as individuals.
Many parents don’t actually know who their children are aside from the basics. They might be unaware of the hobbies that their kids are enjoying or what values they hold dear to their hearts. But you can take this opportunity to be introduced to the people behind the masks that your kids show you.
However, what you should never do is force them to talk to you or share their experiences. You may be the parent in the equation, but you should still respect their privacy and the boundaries they have set up. Allow them to take the first step and open up about themselves; when they do, be sure to actively listen and respond to your kids.
This way, you won’t discourage your children from reaching out to you and force them back into their shells. Show them that you actually care about what they have to say and convince them that you are genuine in your intentions to get to know who they are as people. Healthy and active communication is the key.
Achieve Mutual Sense of Accomplishment
There is nothing like the sense of pride that you will feel once you accomplish your DIY project because you managed to do it with your own hands. Sure, the build may have taken some time, but you made it from nothing with your children and you should be proud of what you have built.
That’s the kind of experience that nobody can ever take away from you and your kids. Plus, because your DIY project is a structure or item that you can use around the house, you’ll relive that sense of accomplishment every time you use it and see what you’ve built.
Don’t worry if the project is over because you can always find something else to do. It doesn’t have to be a DIY project all the time; it could be bonding over movies and popcorn or even cooking if that’s something that all of you enjoy doing. What matters is that you’re still doing some things together, even if you each have your own lives.
Bonding as a family is important because it’s what makes you tight-knit and unbreakable in the face of adversity. That’s not to say that you won’t have conflicts or get angry at one another because that’s normal, but having a close relationship to bank on will assure you that you can get past whatever life throws your way, together.
