Ways to Connect with Family During the Holidays

The holiday season is a time when family means a lot. It’s a time to remind us that we should be getting away from the mundane actions of everyday life and showing those we love how much they mean. Unfortunately, our lives have gotten so busy and the holidays have started to become about buying the perfect gift and decorating the perfect tree. One way to bring back the holiday spirit is to start focusing on the loved ones in our life and less on the material things. If you are searching for how to do this, here are some Ways to Connect with Family During the Holidays.

Ways to Connect with Family During the Holidays

Have a rule that electronics stay home when you go out for family outings during the holidays. How can you connect with your family if everyone is looking at their phones or tablets the whole time? If you think this may be too hard, make a compromise. How about no phones for 1 hour into the activity? You may find that you forget about them and are having too much fun!

Start a family tradition. If you have one, that’s OK. Start another one. One of the best ways to feel close to your family is to do something year after year with them to remind them of past memories and make new ones. It doesn’t have to be big, expensive, or elaborate. Simply decorating cookies every December 20th can be a tradition.

Try not to have too many expectations for long distance relatives. It is easy to get wrapped up in expecting certain people to visit or act a certain way during the holidays. Feel closer to your family by simply letting go of expectations for them. It is much easier to enjoy people’s company when you aren’t expecting anything positive or negative.

Make gift giving a bonus of the holidays, not the main focus. Try to foster in your kids a sense of togetherness during this time of year rather than a focus on what they want. This doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun with things like Santa or the magic of Christmas morning, but don’t build it to be bigger than it is and make sure to help them learn to give generously as well as receive.

Do a volunteer project together. Nothing helps a family get closer during the holidays than doing for others. Many charities and community centers could use extra help around the holidays and if you have kids old enough, get them involved in something that you can all do as a family. You will not only spend time together doing something that helps others, but it will feel like teamwork, too. That in itself can draw your family closer.

Buy a family gift each year. This could be a board game, a favorite movie, or even tickets to see something together as a family. If you do this year after year, you will find that it starts to be a great tradition that gets everyone together for a good time.