Member
of  North East Counselling Services |
|
|
|
 |
Tumbler Ridge Counselling Services |
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Celebrate Family"
National Family Week 2000
By: Roxanne Fowlow
October 2nd-8th is National Family Week and this year's theme is "Celebrate Family". The purpose of National Family Week is to set aside a week to annually recognize and appreciate families and their role in caring for each other, thus contributing to a strong society. It is designed to reinforce and encourage healthy family life and family values. A strong, healthy family is the core of our society.
More often both parents have decided to work outside the home due to financial strain. We've been experiencing more breakdowns of the family unit, according to Statistics Canada the number of marriages verses the number of divorces for 1998 was approximately 45%. With so many difficult challenges in our lives, having a designated Family Week and celebrating each year provides an opportunity to recognize and appreciate the importance of strong family units in our society. During the week of October 2nd – 8th be sure to celebrate by planning some fun activities for your family.
The following are just a few suggestions:
Arts & Crafts Night – Set aside a couple of hours for Craft
Night and borrow a book from your public library for ideas on Halloween or
Christmas crafts your family can make together.
Remember to look for easy crafts that can allow younger children to do as
well.
Fabulous Food Night - A different family members for each day is selected to be the "Cook for the Evening". The "Cook for the Evening" selects a food he/she wishes to prepare for dinner. They get to choose the recipe(s) and everyone helps with preparation (the "Cook for Evening" being in charge). It can also be as simple as a dessert evening for younger children with a variety of jello, puddings and fruit in which each child can put together their own trifle.
Gift of Time – With Thanksgiving just around the corner it would be nice to show each other how much you care by giving a gift of time. Have each family member write on a piece of paper what they have to offer in the way of a chore they are not already assigned to do that they would do, preparing dinner, babysitting, cleaning out the garage, walking the dog. Sometime during the week, the family member will present their paper and fulfill his/her gift of time.
Wish List – Have each family member write on a piece of paper, something they would like the family to do together. Each family member gets one or two suggestions. Each suggestion is written on a separate piece of paper. Have a calendar prepared with time slots in which everyone will be together and able to comply with the requests. Put all the suggestions in a box and draw one at a time. The suggestion is then slotted into the calendar at a time suggested by the family member who wrote the request.
Family Memorabilia –
Plan to put together a family scrapbook with pictures of holidays or special
events that happened that year. The
scrapbook can also contain drawings, artwork, and any other special memorabilia
with a note explaining what the item represents.
Each family member can write a few lines of what was special for them
this year, a couple of things each person is thankful for and a goal they want
to accomplish before next Thanksgiving. Each
year the scrapbook can be review by the family and a new scrapbook 
opened for the following year. Imagine
the fun of looking through the scrapbook with your children 20 years down the
road when they have children of their own participating in this family
tradition.
Treasure Hunt - Make a list of items that the children could find fairly easily and make a copy of the list for each child. If some of the children cannot read, draw or glue on a picture of each item so even the young ones can find the items by themselves. Have the children find as many items on their list as they can. Have them bring the items back to be checked off when they are finished. Award small prizes—to the first person finished, to the person who found the most treasures, to each person, or for each treasure found.
Share your Good Fortune – Invite a new neighbour to dinner or a neighbour
you see once in awhile and only had the opportunity to say “hello” through
the picket fence or just passing by on the street but haven’t had a chance
to get to know them. We have a lot
of newcomers moving into Tumbler Ridge who may not have family living near by
and may be feeling a little lonely this Thanksgiving. 
We believe that through our efforts in establishing strong family relationships and values, we can build many positive community relationships. Although National Family Week is set aside to recognize and appreciate families, maybe some of the above suggestions can continue as a weekly family tradition. And remember, the best gift you can give a child is your time.
For information and resources on strengthening your family relationships, please contact the Tumbler Ridge Counselling Services office at 242-5505. If you have any questions about anything written above, please feel free to send us an email with your question and we will answer it as quickly and fully as we can.INTERNET RESOURCES:
1. Child.Net
Provides resources for children and adults on topics ranging from drug abuse to current news. Offers free email addresses, articles, links to other resource and games sites and more.
http://www.child.net/2. Family Resources Network
Resources to help families in the many aspects of their daily lives including marriage, parenting, financial matters, spiritual growth, product recalls, missing kids database, headline news, family-safe chat ...
http://www.familyresources.net/3. Parenthood Web
Offers articles and Q&A's on family issues from pregnancy and single parenting to budgeting and sibling rivalry. Other resources include links, recall information along with message boards and more.
http://www.parenthoodweb.com/4. Struggling Teens
A resource for parents and professionals trying to help at-risk youth. Offers boarding schools and special programs, chat, articles, a newsletter, and more.
http://www.strugglingteens.com/5. FamiliesFirst.com
Education and family center with lots of information ranging from parent talk, teenzine to homeschooling. http://www.families-first.com/6. Building a Strong Family
Provides many real-life examples of how to effectively resolve some difficult family situations or problems when they arise. http://www.mormons.org/daily/fhe/strong/index.htm7. All Family Resources
An online guide to some services for education, children, teens, aging, health, fitness, food, law, emergencies, entertainment and more that are available to help families manage.
http://www.familymanagement.com/8. Campaign for Our Children
Focuses primarily on teen pregnancy prevention. Includes daily news, ask the experts, resources for teachers and parents, and a national teen pregnancy clock.
http://www.cfoc.org/9. Childline UK
Offers information that covers bullying, exam stress, step-families etc. Also offers articles, tips, news and information on how you can help.
http://www.childline.org.uk/
