Our children need to do their chores, and of course, they need discipline; but what they also need desperately from their parents is to … Play Together! A great thing happens to families when they play together …THEY BEGIN TO TALK, LAUGH, AND LIGHTEN UP.
LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE
Laughter is commonly known as the most contagious form of all emotional expressions, because it releases endorphins, the brain’s “feel good” chemical.
When you laugh together as a family, it decreases stress and anxiety, which ultimately creates a safe nurturing environment.
According to Dr. Dennis K. Orthner*, co-participation in leisure activities is positively related to family satisfaction, family interaction, and family stability.
For many families, play is the missing ingredient that glues the family together. Play can even open closed-off minds and hearts and heal broken relationships. Playing together is one area of our busy lives that we can pretty easily choose to cut out – to make the other areas of our lives easier to manage. Please, don’t cut back on playing together. This is one simple area of life that can yield incredible benefits for you and your family.
*Professor of Social Work & Public Policy, and Associate Director of the Jordan Institute for Families at the University of North Carolina.
PUT INTO PRACTICE
Start a weekly tradition that works for your family. Remember …HAVING FUN IS MAKING MEMORIES ! Please scroll down for some ideas …
Family Dinner every Sunday
Family Pickleball Challenge
Weekly Board Game Night
LAUGHTER IS A GIFT FROM GOD
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones”– Proverbs 17:22