We are family

When did you last take a minute to stop and think about what you value as a family?  Good question, she says, knowing that I can’t remember the last time, or if I have even ever thought about what we value, cooperatively, as a family.

So, here are my thoughts:

Family: We love spending time together.  We are at our best when we share in something together, look out for one another, and enjoy each other’s company.

Activity: Poppi has kept us on our toes since the day she was born and prior to that Daf and I loved (?) a good project.  We value being creative, but also being active, especially outdoors.  Outdoors is good for all of us, whether it’s to blow away the cobwebs, complete a creative challenge, or simply head to the park.

Moving forward: I will be the first to hold my hand up and say I make many mistakes.  There are days when I go to bed feeling like a total failure.  But, thank goodness, tomorrow is a new day.  As a family, we are determined to grow in character and learn from our constant blunders.

Individuality: One thing that we are starting to realise more and more, is that although we are family, we are all different.  We are learning to value each other’s individuality rather than allow it to wind us up when it isn’t perhaps how we do things (but my way always sounds better!?!).  It’s a work in process!

Laughter: Laughter is crucial, right?  It’s so good to laugh.  Laughter releases endorphins, which make us feel better in so many ways.  This is an area I am practicing too.  Daf and Poppi have great laughs together, but I so often feel that I’m getting “the jobs” done so miss out on this.  However, when I do laugh, I love it.  There is also nothing better than seeing that beautiful, genuine smile of Poppi’s.  Her whole face lights up!

Yummy food: We all enjoy a good meal and we all love to cook/bake.  Daf and I are keen to develop our repertoire and explore different types of cooking.  We are pretty keen on putting mainly good things into our bodies too so love to cook healthily but yummily.

Recently we have put these six values into half an hour, once a week, family time.  On a Sunday morning, we head across the road and all of us take part in, what Poppi has named, “family exercise”.  We do a simple boot camp in which we can all participate, but also challenge and reward ourselves.  So, how does that fit all those values?  Let me tell you:

Family: We’re all together

Activity: We’re active and creative

Moving forward: We learn what works for us and what doesn’t, we try to listen to each other

Individuality: We all choose the exercises so everyone gets a go at what they like

Laughter: We encourage one another and laugh too

Yummy food: We come home and eat breakfast!!

Now it’s your turn.

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