You know it is important to spend time with your family. But why is it important? Memories. Traditions. Heritage. Spending time with your family is how you and each member of the family come to know one another as individuals but also how you learn who you all are as a collective and pass along the distinct aspects of your lives that make you as a family a unique unit.
Eat Together
Food is a central reason that families gather together. Gathering around a meal that is traditional to your family, in ways that are specific to your family becomes a part of who you and your family are. The recipes that you prepare and those passed down from previous generations make your family who they are. Eating a meal with your family–immediate and extended–is about making and continuing traditions that are a part of making you who you are, so savor the food and the time spent together over a meal.
Have Adventures
Another important way a family gathers is to do things together. Things that range from the mundane tasks of life to having exciting adventures together, there is no better way to build bonds and further traditions than gathering together to do something together. Maybe it is an annual activity of getting your grandparent’s yard ready for spring or a monthly trip to the park where the family plays volleyball. Or maybe it is an annual trip to someplace new. Gathering as a family to do something is significant and becomes a part of the memories of a family. Time together is when you talk, laugh, and share your lives with one another and this is how you make memories and traditions.
Capture the Moments
Maybe you are thinking that your memory is short and that you will not be able to remember all the significant moments spent together. Your mind does not have the bear the sole responsibility of holding onto these special moments; take pictures. Let part of the memory-making and keeping be about capturing these special moments so you and your loved ones can hold onto the memories made but also share them with those who may not have been able to join you. It is important not to let the capturing of memories get in the way of making them, but capturing the joy of time together as a family is really important.
Tell Stories
Like taking pictures, a way to share the joy of memories and traditions is to share them with others by telling the stories of the family. This may include telling family members who were not present about the gatherings, traditions, and adventures you had with other family members, or it may be gathering to reminisce about moments that have been shared together. Tell your family’s story to one another for current and future generations.
Making memories as a family is special, so take the time to create and cherish the moments that make your family what it is. The tradition of spending time with one another is worth passing along.