Family time sounds lovely in theory, but in reality it can feel like you’ve got to squeeze it in between everything else. For example, work might run late, homework could take longer than expected, and then you’ve lost a whole evening without even knowing it was happening. 

The problem isn’t that your family doesn’t want to spend time together, it’s just that life tends to fill in all the gaps, but the good news is that family time doesn’t have to feel rushed anymore – keep reading to find out more. 

Photo by Werner Pfennig

Start By Lowering Expectations 

One of the biggest reasons that family time can feel rushed is because you’re trying to do too much with it – there’s a bit of pressure to make it really special, productive, and memorable, and that can turn a simple evening into something that gets out of hand and stressful very quickly. 

So instead of always trying to make it big, just do some simple things like sitting together for a chat while dinner is cooking, playing a quick game of something, or even sharing a cup of tea because that really can be enough. 

Add Small Moments Into The Day

The best thing to remember is that you don’t have to carve out massive blocks of time – short, regular moments are usually better because they’re easier, and they just feel more natural anyway. That could be walking to school together, for example, eating a meal without phones, or chatting in the car on the way to an appointment. 

These little pockets of time tend to feel a lot less rushed because they’re just part of the routine anyway, and you’re simply adding the family element to them when you can. Over time, the whole family will start to look forward to them, and you’ll have made a lovely ritual you can all enjoy. 

Keep Activities Simple 

It’s easy to think that family time needs an actual activity attached to it, but the problem is that that can just make things more complicated, and more complicated things are more stressful things. 

In the end, it’s the simple options that usually work the best, like watching a film together, heading outside for a quick kickabout, or going somewhere local like a nearby park, for example. The key is choosing something that doesn’t need a lot of preparation because that way everyone can relax and enjoy the moment, so even hiring an RV and staying for one night at an RV park could be perfect – it’s simple to do, and it’s just out of routine enough to be fun. 

Put Distractions To One Side 

It doesn’t take much for phones or background noise to break up the flow of spending time together, so it’s a good idea to work out a plan to make sure they don’t get in the way. 

It might sound hard at first because we’re so used to always being contactable, but having a short period of time when everyone’s in the present moment and no one’s looking at a screen can be exactly what everyone needs – and you never know, you might actually like it.