Exclusive activities

The easiest way to win over anybody is to make them feel special. When we apply this approach towards our family members, we are not only investing in our family but we are building stronger bonds with them.

An approach that I have implemented in my family is to have special or exclusive activities with family members. It is very easy and each family member feels that they are receiving special and exclusive treatment from me. Let me explain this further.

The special activity that I do with my mother is stitching and cooking. Often we cook together or rather in collaboration. We decide between ourselves that who is going to do the particular task. Most of the time we cook a dish together. Same is for the festival delicacies which we cook together. Both of us enjoy it because it reduces the burden on my mother as well as while cooking we spend some quality time together. My mother likes to guide me for improving my cooking. While cooking she often tells me the stories from her childhood and youth. She also sometimes tell me about her specific memory of cooking that particular delicacy. For me it is an enjoyable as well as a learning experience. At the same time I do love listening to her stories from her childhood. Never the less she does feel special and thinks that during our cooking time she gets exclusive attention from me.

With my nephew I often do art and craft activities. Though he does not like to do art and craft, he enjoys doing this activity with me. During this time my goal is to keep him away from screens and also getting his creativity out. During this time try to get him to think creatively. This way we spend quality time with each other which is completely divise free and we spend our time in doing traditional leisures such as painting, drawing, or making something from scratch.

The activities that I do with my dad definitely are diverse. I help my dad with repair and cleaning work. While doing so bad often tells me various tips and tricks to get things running. My dad has taught me to do basic carpentry and repair work which I believe is a life skill. Also whenever there is any bulky groceries to be brought from the market we go together so that I could carry the heavy articles as well. One of the memories that I would recount is that when the ceiling fans of our house were needed to be replaced, both of us went to the shop and brought the fans home. They were heavy but it was the happiness of collaboration that both of us experienced.

Another creative activity that I do with my dad is writing. Both of us write on different topics and we run a blog together. While I run the blog independently whenever it comes to my dad's article, I take care of the whole technical part. Every week we spend time together to build his article, selecting appropriate images for it, and posting it online. This is a unique activities that only both of us do and every week when we build the article it brings us closer.

I hope these examples would help you to think ways by which you could connect with your family.