Turn isolation into family time

Turn isolation into family time! Lockdown won’t seem all that bad

The lockdown period can be tedious and take a toll on you. However, if you are confined with your family, you should treat this as an opportunity to strengthen your bond with the family and enjoy the much-elusive family time. Here are a few ways to make your family time an interesting one.

Indoor games
The quintessential family time starter is indoor games. Family members can carve out some time out of their daily routine to play games together, like carom, cards, or ludo. This recreational time will help de-stress everyone and would provide a much-needed break from routine work. If you have a garden or a backyard, you can plan for cricket or badminton for a family match. Playing together, the joy of winning or pleasant squabble over losing is an enthusiastic and fun-filled way of bonding with each other. After all, a family that plays together stays together!

Indoor picnics 
Picnics and such outdoor activities are looked forward to by children and adults alike. However, let this lockdown not take away the thrill of picnics from you. Organise a family picnic in the confines of your home. Prepare a meal you would have for a picnic and let all members of the family participate in the cooking. Ditch the dining table for this occasion. To get the setting right, choose a spot in your garden or terrace for enjoying this day. Even a cosy corner of your living room will suffice. Complete this picnic with music and small games. Such indoor picnics will strengthen the ties of the family members. 

Do chores together 
It is our homes where we learn the golden values of ‘Sharing is Caring’! Apply this adage for a smooth time during the lockdown period. Generally, household chores are divided among the members of the family. Try exchanging a few of the duties among each other. Let each member extend a helping to the other in the household work. Tasks like cooking, dusting and laundry can be shared done by the members. In this way, the burden of chores lightens, and everyone is kept engaged. This will also help in learning the value of these small household tasks in keeping the home intact for a happy living. 

Family chats
The lockdown has led to cancelling the plans of meeting their extended family. This has also affected those that stay away from their families. Fill this void with virtual family meet-ups! Organise video conferencing for the whole family and chat with them to heart’s delight. Although video chatting has become a normal practice among the families, this lockdown presents a rare opportunity where all members are in the house. Use the lockdown to renew your old ties and get back in touch with people.

Family Talks
You can have some family time in the evening or night after you are done with the day’s work. The simple joys of family time while sipping tea and chatting about the daily happenings, your aspirations and anxieties, telling stories and sharing experiences are enough to relax you. You can also plan to watch movies together. Take this as an opportunity to talk and most importantly, to listen to each other and understand each other’s perspectives. Communicate your feelings and experiences. Reserve your evenings for such family get-togethers and improve your understanding of each other.

The lockdown period can be stressful for everyone, but by adopting these simple family practices, you can ensure a healthy family time. Not only will this make the lockdown more manageable, but also build your family ties.