Family life has its challenges. It doesn’t matter where you live or how much money you have, you’re probably going to run into some struggles. That being said, there are numerous ways you can make your family life easier and more enjoyable.
If you’re not happy with the way things are for you right now, or you know you could do with less stress and more joy, try some of these suggestions!
How to Make Your Family Life Easier and Happier
Make Sure Everybody Has Responsibility
One of the best ways to make your life easier and more enjoyable is to make sure everybody has responsibility. They should have responsibility for their own space as well as the house in general.
If your teens have had friends over, make sure they know it’s their responsibility to tidy up. If they have been cooking or made a mess some other way, ensure you raise them knowing that it’s their job to clean it.
It’s also a good idea to ensure that your family has equal responsibility when it comes to any pets. Feeding, grooming, and walking pets, shouldn’t just be your job. Responsibility for both the house and pets will make you a stronger family unit and ensure your life is far more enjoyable.
Eat One Meal Together Each Day
Eating one meal together each day might not seem possible at first. After all, you have work, school, and other things going on. However, the meal doesn’t have to be dinner.
You could all have breakfast together, or if it’s possible you could have lunch together. If you can find the time to put all of your devices and work away and spend time eating together for a short amount of time every day, you will notice so many benefits. Studies have proven that doing this can help kids perform better at school, will help them avoid peer pressure, and more.
It doesn’t matter what you want to eat, whether you’ve got the best frozen Chinese food out of the freezer for a homemade takeaway, or you want to make your own pizzas and everyone gets a slice of each. As long as you’re taking the time to be together while eating, you’ll reap the benefits of a family mealtime.
At our house, we all eat dinner together each evening. We don’t allow phones or other electronic devices during this time, and we make it a point to talk about our day. One person begins by asking someone else, “What was the best part of your day?”, and the person being asked answers the question.
Then, the person who just answered the question will ask the next person the same question. We do this until everyone has talked about their day. It usually lasts the entire time because it really gets the kids talking.
Eat The Same Things Each Week
Eating the same things each week will help you get a handle on food prep, as well as your shopping. Eating the same meals on corresponding days throughout the week can help you to make mealtimes more of a fun tradition, too. You can keep your food budget down this way and ensure food shopping is more effective.
*For a free meal planning & grocery list printable, click HERE!*
Reduce Time Doing Laundry and Ironing
Doing laundry and ironing can feel like it takes ages to complete. However, with the help of items like ironing spray, you can minimize the time spent doing this and ensure your family remains clean and tidy.
It’ll help your clothes last longer, too. There’s no need to do a full wash after every single wear.
Child Proof Your Home
If you ever worry about your children hurting themselves at home, it’s a good reason to spend time childproofing your home. Here are some ways you can do this:
- Ensure there’s nothing your children can get tangled up in, such as blind cords.
- Avoid leaving children unattended if you have ponds, pools, and other bodies of water in the yard. It only needs to be shallow to suffer the devastating consequences.
- Get down to their level and see if you can spot any hazards.
- Cover up sharp corners.
- Avoid having hard floors with no rugs.
- Use dark colors and ensure materials wipe clean.
Find Fun Things To Do Together
Doing fun things together brings you closer together as a family. There are so many more things out there you can do instead of just watching TV or playing on electronics!
Why not go on hikes, try arts and crafts, or read together? These are the moments you will treasure when your kids have grown up. Plus, it’s always a good idea to avoid too much screen time.
Avoid Cluttering Up Your Home
When you have a family, the home can become easily cluttered. If you need help figuring out how to improve this, take a look at Marie Kondo on Netflix.
Keeping the things that truly bring you joy will make your home a tidier, happier place. Rather than buying your kids useless toys that they will use once and forget about (not to mention the plastic use and environmental impact this has), invest in experiences for them and things they can use again and again.
Download Apps
Apps can help to give you peace of mind. Some of them will help you know where your family is if they are out with friends or elsewhere. You can even use certain apps to control different parts of the house from a remote location. You can make it look like you are home by turning on the lights, for instance, even when you’re at work.
Take A Break From The Screen
When you take a break from the screen, you’ll have less stuff cluttering up your brain. You’ll also have more time to focus on your family life and immediate surroundings. Get creative and find new things to do!
Focus On What You Can Control
Rather than worrying about what you can’t control, focus on what you can control. You won’t always be able to stop bad things from happening, but you can put things into perspective and work on the things that are in your control.
Simplify Your Wardrobe
Coming up with capsule wardrobes for each family member will have a tremendous impact on both your lives and the planet. You’ll save money, have high-quality pieces you can use again and again, and find getting dressed so much easier. This guide will help you get it right.
Prioritize What’s Important To You As A Family
Different things are important to different families. Having a family motto can help you to define your values and morals and ensure your kids grow up to be great people. It’ll also allow you to better communicate with one another, and make decisions from a good place.
How are you going to make your family life easier and more enjoyable? Let us know in the comments!
