Juggling Family, Church and School

by Miriam Caldwell | More from this Blogger

24 Aug 2007 05:53 PM

It is the time of year when life begins to get really busy. There is so much to juggle between school, homework, extracurricular activities, church activities and family time. There are times when you might feel as though you only see each other all at once a few minutes a day. Here are a few ideas that may help you and your family stays connected and build your testimonies.

1) The first and most obvious answer is to continue to have family home evenings each week. Additionally daily family scripture study and prayer are important. You may want to decide when you have family scripture study and family prayer as a family. Then you can expect your children to be at home or awake in time to attend.

2) Another important way to spend time together as a family is to eat dinner together. You may need to adjust this according to your children's after school schedules. If you have a set time every night and expect your children to be home this can help as well. You may find that this doesn't work as well if you have a child who only runs home between an activity and a job to grab a quick bite. If that is the case sit down and talk to your child while he is eating. I remember eating dinner alone regularly in high school. It made me feel a little bit left out.

3) Each month schedule a family activity. These can be flexible to meet the needs of your family and schedule. It may be that everyone attends your daughter's soccer game and then goes out for ice cream afterwards. It may be a movie or a trip to the temple. The activities can vary and you may want to assign different children to be in charge each month. This can really help to build strong family bonds.

4) As a family you should sit down and talk about the priorities in your family. A family council meeting would be a great place to do this. You should discuss the importance of church attendance, family time and school obligations. You may decide that your children need to limit their extracurricular activities a bit. If you do this try to let them choose what they want to cut.

5) Additionally make sure that you and your husband connect with each of your children on a daily basis. This could be a quiet talk on the way to seminary or when you are picking them up from school. It could come as you tuck them into bed at night. You could talk while you do the dishes together. It is important to understand the needs that each of your children is facing.

Related Articles:

Family Home Evening: School Goals and Schedules

Building Family Unity

End of Summer Party

Learn more about Miriam Caldwell

Miriam is a SAHM mom of three children. She has a daughter who is seven, and two sons, four and two. She loves being a parent and spending time with her children.

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