Balancing Family Life
Balancing family life is hard, especially now with all the added stress of COVID-19. We all have so many demands on out time. Trying to find the right balance between work and family can be very overwhelming. Making the decision to work on balancing your family time is the first step! It is hard but making this a priority is something you and your family will not regret.
It is not only hard to make sure you have one on one time with the children but also with your spouse and alone time too. Self care is especially important as well. Below are seven things that have helped us in balancing family life.
Always eat a meal together as a family when possible
Our days here are hectic, as I am sure yours are too! During the day it can be exceedingly rare that all the family are home at the same time, never mind eating at the same time. We always plan to eat together at dinner time though. Turn the television off during meals, this way your family can talk. Discuss what you all want to do the next day, make plans or talk about what you enjoyed doing that day. I do find the girls eat so much better when we all eat together.
We try to make this our daily routine – that way everyone knows to expect dinner time together. For us it is a time for relaxing and communication, so dinner time can last a while! I do find it helps when everyone has a part to play. Girls clean up the toys while I set the table and serve everyone, John always cooks (he is the best cook!). Meals do not need to be elaborate either!
Have special family time
Time spent with family should be a weekly commitment and make it fun! Focus on what your children are interested in and it does not have to be anything big. Spending time reading books together, doing art and crafts, playing sports or video games together. Ask what your children would like to do on a certain afternoon and put it in the calendar or a note on the fridge, so you make sure to remember.
Friday and Saturday nights are usually our movie nights with the girls. We have Disney Plus which we all love! During this time, we turn our phones of, wear our pajamas and just relax. We also read a lot of books together as a family. At bedtime we let the girls choose a book each and we all read it together. For tips on how to cultivate the love of reading in your little ones click here.
Spend time with your partner
Spending quality time together helps your relationship stay strong. Making sure time is spent communicating with your partner will help you to avoid any future conflicts. Talk about things that are on your mind and listen to your partner. It is extremely easy for this to get pushed to the side. What with work, children, household chores and trying to have some time to yourself it is hard to do.
Try to schedule time at least once a week for just your partner. Stick to the schedule and it will become part of your routine. It can be something simple as cooking together while the kids play. Schedule a date night for just the two of you. It does not need to be going out for a date night, although with COVID-19 we are all spending time inside anyway. After the kids go to bed you can have a movie date night or a drink together while talking about your day. Playing board games or video games is a fun way to spend time together too!
Set aside some alone time.
This is ridiculously hard to do, I know, but it is definitely worth it. Taking time out for yourself is so important and will help you feel refreshed and energized. If you can spend some time every day just relaxing or doing something you love you will notice the difference. Since it is so hard to have time to yourself every day it is best to schedule it in, and make sure you stick to it. It can be reading, taking a bath, going for a walk and learning a new skill. It does not matter what you do if you get joy from it. When you take care of yourself, you will be able to deal with stress and take care of your family too.
Accept help
This is important and I know sometimes it is hard to ask for help. Most of us have friends, family or even neighbors that are more than willing to help us when we need it. Accept offers to look after the kids so you can have some alone with or time with your partner without feeling guilty.
While we are in and out of hospital so much our community gathered round us and dropped of meals. This was amazing. It removed a lot of stress from John and I so we could concentrate on the girls.
Try your best
Every day is different and has its own challenges. It is important to realize your best changes from one day to another. It is never going to be the same quality from when you wake up refreshed to when you are tired in the evening. If you do not end up having dinner together, or have one on one time, do not beat yourself up – we need to let go of the guilt. The only thing we can do is try our best and be happy with it.
Above is what we aim to do each day, some days we are successful. We all have good days and bad. Above is what has worked for our family, but everyone is different. Balancing family life is hard but the most important point we do is try our best each day.
What have you found helps you to balance family life? Leave it in the comments below.
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