Whether you are busy building your own company, or climbing up the corporate ladder, building dedicated family time into your schedule is vital in maintaining that work-life balance, and making the most of your children before they grow up and flee the nest.
Take a break from routine
Anyone who is part of a busy family will understand how the daily routine of getting everyone up and into work and school can literally dominate conversations. Morning choruses of ‘get up’, ‘get dressed, ‘eat your breakfast’, ‘don’t be late’, ‘have you done your homework’ are being sung in homes across the world.
Before you know it, your family will have grown up and fled the nest, and you’ll know nothing about them because you’ve barely had a proper conversation with them in years, other than about their daily movements. In fact, one frightening statistic suggests that two thirds of the conversations between parents and their children revolve uniquely about daily arrangements.
This is the reason why family holidays are so important.
Taking time to talk
Holidays are an opportunity not so much to explore new places, but to relax and chill with your family, and have conversations with them which are about everything beyond your daily lives. Family holidays are those times when you can talk with them about all the non-important, silly subjects which can then lead to deeper more meaningful ones.
It is too easy to get drawn into technology, social media and not engaging with each other on a regular basis. This lack of connection has proven to lead to eventual declines in physical and emotional health, making individuals feel isolated and alone even when surrounded by their family. Having that time and space to simply be with each other in a non-pressurised and neutral environment will have a significant effect on your family’s overall wellbeing.
Widening Perspectives
We all know intellectually that travel broadens the mind, yet we are all guilty of staying within our circle of comfort and not pushing those boundaries enough. Particularly since the onset of the pandemic, travelling with your family has been severely curtailed. As well as the additional expense of booking PCR tests for everyone, and the overall unpredictability of your destination’s changing covid restrictions, many families would have put going on holiday on ice until it was easier to travel.
While ‘staycations’ have allowed many to enjoy being in their own homes, often staying at home does not give you the wider perspective of new horizons. Being on an adventure together gives a family a shared experience which cannot be replicated at home, where you are in danger of getting caught up in the daily slog again and falling back into regular routines.
Now that the travel restrictions have more or less eased worldwide (though do check individual countries according to your desired destination), you can start getting excited about planning another trip. Make this a conversation starter today. Asked each member of your family what they would like to do if they could go anywhere in the world. Allow yourself to get excited about it. Part of the fun of going on holiday with your family is in the planning.
Building memories
Everything that you do, from the initial planning through to walking back through the door with suitcases full of dirty clothes is a memory you have made with your family. These are precious memories.
Before long, your little children will have grown up and be looking to have their own family holidays with their own families. This time can whiz by in the blink of an eye. So now that we can travel again, don’t put it off any longer. Book that precious time away with your family and relish every moment!
Read more: What Is A Family Office, And What Are Some Of Its Benefits?
