Family Matters

Posts Tagged ‘vacation’

Family Matters is taking some time off from researching, coaching and writing and heading off on a family vacation. After all, this is why we do what we do – to help ourselves have a better family time together.

It has been an awesome year for us. We were very proud and happy that our daughter Eden, our happy thought, joined us in writing this year. We have had many personal achievements at work, in our relationships and with our kids. The only wish we have for ourselves is that next year will be even better. Better is a good formula for a happy life.

We want to thank all of the 150,000 readers we have had this year and give special thanks to all those who have posted comments, shared their opinions and contributed to the community of parents and educators around this blog. Whatever your personal views, we love to read them and engage in a discussion on the important aspects of parenting with you.

I visited my parents and discovered the house where they had raised 4 kids was now too small for only 2 people, because it was full of boxes, blankets, appliances and clothes that could dress a whole battalion.

When I opened the fridge, I was shocked. In the packed mess of boxes and jars, only my mom knew what was in the depths of her fridge. They are only 2 people, but they still buy and cook for 7. You see, my parents’ house was so full of things they had been collecting and holding on to for years, those things did not allow anything new to enter their life anymore. They had blocked themselves.

As we approach the end of the year and it is time to have the “closing ceremony” and review what we have achieved, I found out during my visit that there was a neglected section in this whole New Year celebration and that was creating space for the New Year to enter.

Traveling does not trigger the same thoughts and ideas in everyone’s mind. For some, traveling means carrying a heavy load, while for others, it means feeling calm and relaxed. Some are stressed by the planning and organizing, while others imagine the views and the pictures they will capture. Some fear the unknown, while others look forward to great surprises.

This list-making post is for the travelers among us. It is for those who love traveling and the thought of going out of their comfort zone to a new destination excites them.

This post is also for those who have never traveled (much), but wish they did (more).

It may even be for those who have had no desire to travel until now…

I can write about traveling because I am a world traveler and love every second of it.

But I was not a traveler all my life.

While on our long vacation recently, I managed to organize a reunion of my high school friends. We got together with our partners and kids for an afternoon picnic, after 25 years apart.

As you can see from the list, there are many things you can do with your kids to keep them busy and happy. If you decide to take a different idea each time and spread them over 52 weekends and 8 weeks of the school holidays, you may not even have to repeat any of them throughout the same year.

What can you do?

Play hide-and-seek at night when the lights are off. There is still so much light coming in through the windows that soon your kids will ask to put some things on the windows to make sure it is really dark. If you have very young kids, make sure someone is hiding with them and make a rule not to scare each other.

You are here today for the third part of the series, “Mom, I’m Bored!” with 100 fun things you can do with your kids to keep them busy, happy and having fun and even bonding with them as a family.

Yesterday, I started posting a series of 100 ideas for parents to keep their kids busy and happy. Today, I am adding 20 more tips and I hope you will find them helpful.

All you need to do is go over them and schedule them into your weekends and holidays. I promise that by the end of the week, you will have so many ideas you will be asking for more weekends and holidays with your kids.

One of the things parents hate hearing the most is “I’m bored”. When my kids come and say this to me, I feel like, on top of being the cleaner, the accountant, the teacher, the gardener and many other titles that I carry, I also have the wonderful title of Entertainer. But when I get rid of the fear I have of all of this, it can actually be quite fun.