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Fall in love with LUVJOY: The Flourishing Family

Janeen Anderson
Oct 20, 2019
3 min read

3 Tips to Flourish more as a Family

Here at LUVJOY we are always ecstatic to photograph our clients. We have a super special place for families as supporting and cultivating strong families is one of our core values. Below, we've highlighted some reminders and tips to make the most of your family and encourage your family to flourish!

Cultivate a Strong Communication Culture

I spent some time thinking about what makes an awesome family dynamic. As a military kid, my mom spent a lot of time away, traveling overseas to Europe, Asia and Africa. But somehow, despite her absence always felt like we spent a lot of amazing moments together and cultivated wonderful memories. So it got me thinking, what did she do to provide me with such a great childhood? Well for starters she communicated amazingly, she always ensured I had a voice and felt heard in a respectful way, whether choosing dinner options or understanding why we couldn't buy a new toy that day, communication was huge. We talked a lot and made the most of car trips, grocery store runs and dinner time. How is your communication culture in your family and How do you keep it strong?

Tips to Cultivate Communication

Dinner together as often as possible
Create an evening family routine to discuss the highs and lows of the day
Sign up for a parenting class or communication workshop
Have family meetings weekly to discuss the events and goals of the week
Pray, meditate and affirm your family together

Build a Breathtaking Bucket list

This year has been filled with tons of changes and balancing kids, work, finances and family can be a serious juggling act especially when you try and fit some romance in there! Something we've recently incorporated to elevate our family life is creating a bucket list. Yes, a real family bucket list that we hung on our fridge so we can remember the things we are striving for. Now this is no ordinary bucket list. It has our goals, dreams and aspirations both that stimulate our mind, body, soul, financial wellness and overall happiness. This list keeps us mindful of the intentions we've set for ourselves individually and as a family collective. Make it fun, you can do a vision board bucket list, have a contest of how many things you can accomplish in a month or try something new! Committing to some good goals, going after them and working together as a family is all that matters!

Questions to ask when creating a bucket list:

What things do we want to accomplish as a family/individually?
What events or life experiences would we like to witness or partake in?
What would you do if you had unlimited time, money, and resources?
What activities or skills do you want to learn?
What do you need to do to live a life of greatest meaning as defined by you?

Terrific Family Traditions

We also had some pretty fun family traditions. Each Friday we had pizza and had what she called mandatory "family fun" my cousins and I would play Uno, jenga, all the great board games and we made ice cream Sundays 2x a month on Sunday! I still cherish these memories as an adult and I'm elated to be able to share them with my little ones as they grow and flourish. What are some family traditions you all practice?

Incorporating something new (goals/bucket list) something old (classic awesome traditions) and some strong communication in the mix are big steps in the right directions for cultivating an amazing family life. Our time together flies by, make the most of it with some our these intentional steps.

Tradition Ideas