Raising a Happy Family

I really have enjoyed this lesson about having a happy family and things that encourage a family to be happy. As I pondered how families can be happy, I had the opportunity to consider what wholesome family recreation was, because in the class I am taking, this was one of the key things a family needs to be doing to have a family that is positive and joyful. To kind of break it down, wholesome can mean nourishing, good, healthy, and natural. So with that in mind, I think that activities that are edifying and uplifting can be considered as wholesome activities.  I read the article, “Today’s Family: Choose Wholesome Recreation” recently that had some really good insight as to how we can learn about principles that can be uplifting as a family. There was three major ones, they were: build up rather than tear down, engage in the best recreation, and balance is crucial. Elder Dallin H. Oaks teaches that leisure time should be filled with activities that uplift, inspire, and draw individuals closer to Heavenly Father. He notes and warns against the trend of setting aside dignifying entertainment and replacing it with demeaning and destructive activities. “Remember that our Savior Jesus Christ always builds us up and never tears us down. He asks us to evaluate what kind of media that we are bringing into our homes and to get rid of anything that would tear us down. When engaging in the best recreation Elder Eyring asks us to consider how much time we spend with technology and other social devices, instead of gaining knowledge, skills, and culture. Elder M. Russell Ballard encourages families that balance is crucial and to be “seeking out the best recreation can actually provide families with spiritual nourishment to overcome trials and resist temptation”. Regulate the things your child is learning which could be a balance of recreation and gospel learning.

            One of the activities I chose to do this week that would help strengthen my own family was to create a family calendar where all of the important events in your family would be posted. I had the opportunity to sit down with my spouse and discuss some of the things that we needed to be doing to be happy as a family. We decided that we needed to have more time together that was set aside each week, so it wasn’t skipped. In class, we were encouraged to plan these times first, so that other activities can be planned around your togetherness time. This is so, because if we did it the other way, where other activities where scheduled first and togetherness time after, that special times seems to always get bumped further and further back, to the point where we forget about it and never do it. The calendar below is my own example of what we came up with that was easy to remember and helped us plan family time into our lives:

◄ June	~ July 2013 ~					August ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
	1 FHE	2	3	4	5	6
7 “Togetherness Time” @3	8 FHE	9	10	11 Relief Society Activity	12	13 Date @7
14 “Togetherness Time” @3	15 FHE	16	17	18	19	20
21 “Togetherness Time” @3	22 FHE	23	24	25	26	27 EVENT: Activity with spouse that we haven’t done in a long time.
28 “Togetherness Time” @ 3	29 FHE	30	31	Notes: “Togetherness Time” will change when we go back to college.