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Would you like to have more fun, less stress and true quality time with your family in 2019?

Plan family fun and special days intentionally.  We always include birthdays and anniversaries, but this year add plan a bit of surprise to your family calendar and include some goofy or unusual days to celebrate for even more fun. You can find some great ideas in the “Plan Intentionally – Make 2019 Your Best Year Ever!”  (a 23-page free resource in the Resource Library)

Here's why it's good to plan your year:

• Plan for the year.  This is a good time to define your goals for you and your family.  You could create a Family Mission Statement.
• Through planning, you can:
  • establish your family's goals and priorities
  • recognize commitments and schedule them
  • schedule your year to meet your families needs and wants
  • allow time for a vacation/stay-cation and take advantage of discounts, payments plans, etc.
  • allows giving time to what has to most positive impact for you and your family.

I am a mom of four and was a Cub Scout Leader, 4H leader, and homeschool mom.  There is truth in the saying,  “If momma ain't happy, nobody is happy.”  My experience has been that my mood has a definite impact and my family.  Raise your hand if something always seems to go wrong.  It did when my children were young.  That made planning even more important.  My daughter remembers I had a binder for everything.

I found I was better able to deal with the unexpected if things were otherwise orderly. It's about going from surviving an event to being happy and thriving at and with family events.  Also, laughter helps a lot.

The answer to all of this is planning.

Use planning to cut down on stress. It allows you to examine what is important, and intentionally help create balance in your life.  You can avoid time-consuming mistakes which allow for time for the important things in life.

Planning allows you to better handle unforeseen obstacles or events that always seem to pop-up in life. When you plan ahead, you have some time to handle those “hic-ups” in life.

When you plan your family calendar, it can result in close family relationships. By establishing your goals and priorities, you define what is important to your family.

Preparing for family events together can result in giving children the opportunity to have increased responsibility. This helps them to prepare them for adulthood.

By including children in the planning and preparations, the children become an important part of the family unit.

It's just fun to do things together.

With every member of the family contributing to the celebration, the shared workload seems less.  In the beginning, children may require supervision but in time it will result in their ability to contribute independently.

THE BIG PLUS ABOUT PLANNING is that it results in more free time.

Some Ideas on Planning family Events and Having fun.

Early in the year, find an evening when all the members of your family can make time to be together. Make it a fun time with your favorite foods and plan for the year together.

Make the evening an event.

Serve a Hot Potato Bar or dessert with a Caramel Apple Bar (new food bars coming soon-stay informed with the Positively Party Printables Post-a weekly newsletter). Family times can serve more than one purpose.  Make planning with your family positive by sharing soof together.

Fill in the National Holidays appropriate to your country (US included). Add your birthdays, anniversaries and other important days for you and your family.

Do you want to establish new traditions?

When my children were young, we played board games. Such fun. (We learned to avoid playing Risk- a long story). Playing board games became a fun habit. We really enjoyed paling board games on New Year's Eve. I remember when the kids brought home some friends from college and we played the games on New Year's Eve.  No Electronics!  We spent the evening talking and catching up on what was happening while they were at school. It is a wonderful memory. Now my adult children will find time to play board games with their family and friends.  A Great Tradition!

What fun traditions would you and your family like to start planning?

The more thorough your calendar-the less chance for confusion down the road. Less confusion, less stress and more time for making memories.

Stay tuned for more planning family fun ideas.

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