Attending to
Relational Health
Encourage family members to connect with each other
Interact while engaging together in:
mentally and spiritually healthy activities - boardgames, puzzles, bible study, baking.
physically healthy activities - exercise, play outside, go for walks.
Manage conflict - don’t let tension fester.
Marital discord impacts the whole family. Avoid arguing in front of kids. Reach out to others if unable to resolve challenges independently.
Work through sibling conflict. Telling kids to get along or stop arguing doesn’t resolve the issue at hand.
Provide time for personal space or quiet time away from others.
Encourage family members to connect with others
Allow younger children to use a device to connect with friends — via calls, video chats, etc.
Find creative ways for kids to interact in person without spreading germs.
Riding bikes together through the neighborhood.
Walking a dog, while maintaining adequate distance.
Ensure children know what distance and activities are permissible BEFORE doing this!
Encourage family members to help each other out
Chores can go under several categories of health. It helps the atmosphere and relationships in our homes when everyone does their share.
Provide a list of chores or household needs, then allow children to choose which they do — either for that day or an agreed-upon period of time.
Don’t leave the time commitment undefined. Feeling like you’re stuck doing the dishes for life feels like an unjust sentence.
Ensure kids can do the chosen task. If your youngest can’t reach the dish cabinets, then unloading the dishwasher is an unrealistic option.
Don’t re-do kids’ chores after they’ve completed them. If something seems incomplete, nonjudgmentally communicate the expectation to your child and allow him/her to make things right by issuing a do-over:
“Hey, Honey, the dishwasher still has some clean glasses in it. If we load the dirty dishes from dinner, they’re going to get mixed up. Please put those away before dinner, so everyone can load their dishes when they’re done eating.”
Set clear expectations.
Communicate what each task involves, how kids know when it’s complete, and if there’s a time-limit.
If not, allow them to get their task done on their own schedule, not your’s.
If it’s getting late in the day and you’re concerned it’s not going to get done, offer a nonjudgmental observation:
“Hey, Buddy, you committed to sweeping the floor and I noticed it’s almost bedtime and it’s still not done. We need to wrap up by 8:30 or we’ll lose some of our reading together time. Let’s get the floor cleaned now so we have plenty of time to read and snuggle!”