Talk to your family
Here are some characteristics of resilient families:
- High yet reasonable expectations – expect your children to succeed, yet allow them to fail.
- Extended family bonds – extended family systems offer you and your children options
- Respect and love – need we say more?
- Resourcefulness – finding information, advocating for your family, gaining support
- Community involvement – volunteering together, joining community or religious organizations
- Family unity – commitment to each other expressed through time together, listening and talking
- Well-defined parent and child roles – parents need to be parents, and children, children
- Monitoring and supervision – No matter how uncomfortable, this makes a huge difference
The most important thing you can do is talk with your family. Talk about things that matter to you and your children. Incorporating these discussions into your family’s weekly routine will make it less awkward. You may want to try discussion oriented games like Ungame or Seven Habits of Effective Families. You can also contact LifeWorks NW at 503-627-9194 for more information including a free packet of discussion cards developed by the US Department of Health and Human Services.