What a wonderful opportunity to enhance our relationships with the people we claim to care about the most. We have an unprecedented opportunity as a nation to hit the reset button on our closest and most cherished relationships. Here are 11 ideas for how to do that.
Enjoy shared experiences as a family. Watch a show, movie, or videos. Watch stand-up comedy. Laugh together. Enjoy one another. Create good memories.
Do Just Dance, Wii Party, or some other physical activity together.
Sit in a circle and ask questions of each other. Use a timer to give each person 2 uninterrupted minutes to answer while others use active listening skills to really hear what is said.
Play games—board games, cards, online games, bingo, dominoes, or anything else that gets you interacting together. Remember that the point is not to compete--it's to have a shared experience.
Learn how to cook or bake new recipes together, and then eat together. A pizza party, with each person creating their own unique pizza can be a fun experience. You can have have fun with this, as in a smoothie challenge where one team makes their own unique smoothie and the other team has to drink it, and visa versa.
Read and then tell one another what we’ve read.
Write—the book you’ve always wanted to write. Record family stories, family recipes, creative stories, poetry, or journalistic interviews with people willing to FaceTime, Skype, or Zoom with you to share their stories and wisdom.
Create a family show—each person can “perform” by singing, playing a musical instrument, doing stand up comedy, performing a magic trick, reading poetry, or some other talent. Be sure to video tape these precious memories that you’ll be able to enjoy for years to come.
Learn together—take virtual tours of museums online, watch historical documentaries, take an online course, and then share with one another what you’ve learned.
Take up a new hobby together. Learn to knit, crochet, work with wood, paint, or some other craft.
Work on home projects as a family. Repair what's broken, paint what's faded, clean what's dirty, and give away or toss what you no longer use.
By the end of the quarantine, you might just have stronger, deeper relationships than ever.
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