Are You Ready For Family Friendly Week?
The Family and Childcare Trust charity (FCT) is encouraging people to take part in Family Friendly Week, running from 20 – 26 October.
Last year FCT, which aims to make the UK better for families, encouraged us to Make One Change to improve the quality of life at home, be that turning off the TV one night a week, getting home on time or going on day trips. Those little things that make #parenting more rewarding.
This year’s theme for Family Friendly Week is ‘Cook Together, Share Together, Laugh Together‘.
Here are some ideas of our own for things you can do with your kids to make work #familyfriendly.
- Hand the reins over to your offspring and let them take the decisions for the day. You’ll soon find you are having a good time and laughing together, the children will also get a glimpse of what it takes to run a home and family and hold down a job. Incidentally, 21 November 2014 is the Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day.
- Show your children how work helps to make life better. Involve them in easy household chores and make it fun. Instead of simply assigning tasks, make it a kind of lucky dip, so they pick a chore out of the biscuit tin. Give them a little reward at the end.
- When talking about your working day once you’re home, find ways to tell your children that work brings all kinds of benefits, not simply money. You may have helped a colleague, solved a problem, or learnt something new. Working makes you a more rounded human being.
- Nurture their interest in the world of work. It could be simply saying to your child: ‘Remind me to put the red file in my briefcase tonight because I have an important meeting tomorrow’. Which would lead to your offspring asking about that meeting when you get home, and some thoughtful conversation.
- Help children to manage their own lives responsibly. Dealing with pocket money or birthday cash is a good place to start. Give them a sense of independence by giving them a pre-paid debit card, but one that provides parental controls so that you can block any unwise purchases (always explain the rationale for your actions).
- When school or childcare arrangements go awry, work can be associated with anxiety in the child’s mind. Why not encourage the office to have a ‘take your kids to work day‘ so your little ones can become familiar with the place, in case they need to spend a few hours there one day.
- Bake a cake together, children love baking and it’s a great way to bond and form memories that last forever, and if there’s any cake left the next day, take some to work and let your children know, how everyone at work thought their baking was so delicious.
Have these tips sparked any ideas? Do you have any ideas to share? Remember that it’s not happening until 20 October, so you’ve got plenty of time to prepare.
Want to read more about family matters? Have a look at our other blogs.