POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS FOR FAMILIES: HOW TO BUILD THEM

Why positive relationships are essential for families

Strong, positive relationships with family members are fun for their own sake. It feels good to be a part of a loving and warm family.

Positive family relationships are essential for many other reasons:

• Help children feel loved and secure, so they can explore the world and try new things.
• Make it easier for your family members to resolve conflicts, solve problems, and respect differences of opinion.
• Give your children the skills to form healthy relationships.

It is essential to maintain and improve the relationships that you have with your children and other members of your family.

You can do simple things to build positive relationships with your family.

A key component of strong families is positive family relationships. Strong families are built on love, security, connection, and a few rules.

Quality time with family relations

It is about making the most of your family’s time together. These tips will help you create quality family time.

• Everyday time can be used to share stories and laughs. Family meals or car travel are great ways to catch up.
• When devices are off, have time with each other. This keeps everyone’s attention on the task at hand.
• To strengthen family relationships, have one-on-one conversations with each family member. Each child can go to bed in as little as five minutes.
• Suppose you have a partner. Set aside some time for them. It might be a good idea to explain to your children that this is important for the relationship between you and your partner.
• Regular, enjoyable activities together as a family. You can do this by playing a soccer game with your family at the local park each Saturday or having a weekly family board game night.

Family relationships and positive communication are crucial to building trust.

Positive communication means listening without judgment and being open and honest with your feelings. This helps everyone feel valued and respected, which in turn strengthens relationships.

These positive communication ideas will help you strengthen your family relationships.

• If your child or partner is interested in talking, stop what you are doing and listen intently. Allow people to voice their opinions and feelings.
• Talk about difficult things, like mistakes, and all feelings, including anger, joy, and fear. It’s better to wait until the anger has subsided before discussing them.
• Prepare for spontaneous conversations. Younger children, for example, love sharing their emotions while in the bath or before bed.
• Make sure to have difficult conversations with teens. Families may find it difficult to discuss topics such as sex, money, drugs, alcohol, and academic difficulties. Before these topics are brought up, reflecting on your feelings and values is essential.
• Encourage your children to praise. Leo, for example, said, “It’s a huge help when you bring in the bins without being asked. Thanks!’
• Let your family know you care about them. It can be as easy as telling your children, “I love you,” each night before they sleep.

Positive non-verbal communication

Communication doesn’t always happen in words. It’s essential to listen to what your partner and children are feeling. Your teenage child may not want to communicate with you but still seek comfort in cuddles.

You should also be mindful of the non-verbal messages that you send. Eye contact, hugging, kisses, and hugs convey that your child is essential to you. While doing something together, a grumpy voice or frown could send the message that your child doesn’t want you there.

Positive communication is about respecting the wishes of others. As children age, their need for privacy increases. You can keep in touch with your teenager through planned and everyday activities.

Family relationships and teamwork

Everyone feels more supported when the family works together. Working together as a team is easier when everyone knows where they stand. It helps to set clear expectations and limits.

These are some ways to encourage teamwork:

• Share household chores. Contributing can give children a sense of belonging, even young ones.
• Involve children in family holiday and holiday planning decisions. Before you make the final decisions, show everyone, even young children, a chance to speak up. Family meetings are a great way to achieve this.
• Depending on their maturity and abilities, let them make their own decisions. You might allow your 12-year-old child to decide whether to cycle or walk home from school.
• Create guidelines that clearly state how your family will look after and treat each member. For example, “In our family, we talk respectfully to one another.” These rules help everyone to get along better and make family life easier.
• Work together to resolve problems. Some critical components are listening and considering all options, considering other opinions, finding constructive solutions, and working together toward compromises.

Family relationships and appreciation for one another

Family relationships are built on the value of each other. These are some of the ways you can do it:

• Be interested in the lives of each other. Take the time to attend each other’s sports events, drama performances, art shows, and so forth.
• When discussing the day’s events, make sure to include everyone. Izzy might ask, “What was the highlight of your day today?”
• Tell your family stories and treasured memories. These stories can help children see the value in things they don’t know or forget – such as Mum’s sporting accomplishments when she was younger or how a big sibling helped her care for her baby brother after his birth.
• Recognize each other’s talents, differences, and strengths and work together to maximize each other’s potential. Your child will see you as caring and helpful if you praise your teenage sibling for listening to them read.