Family bonding time is time the family spends together meaningfully. This is a designated time your family plans to interact with each other over a group of activities or a major fun project.

Beneficial Effects of Spending Time Together:

Family members learn how to listen and work together. Children learn how to behave in society by watching their parents interact with each other and with the world. Family bonding times are a great way to model expected behaviors inside the family circle and with others in the community.  Modeling expected behaviors is also a great way for the parents in the family to learn how to communicate to each other as well.

Promising your personal time at least one day out of the week will help members in your family gain a sense of self worth. Children that have guardians that take the time with them, begin to assign value to their family time. Children that do not have a sense of family values are more likely to be influenced by friends that do not necessarily have their best interests at heart.

Communications between family members improve. Parents often admit frustration when it comes to communication. Their children are not open, untrustworthy, do not listen or lack understanding between talker and listener.  Bonding time can help eliminate some of the frustration.  Parents can use this time to relate their childhood to an adolescent just beginning his childhood interactions.  Parents know the same trials have weathered us all. The amount of temptation and the sources of these hindrances are the only things that really change.

As important as it is to impart wisdom, it is just as important to be an active listener as well. While everyone is together, sometimes it¡¯s just as important to redirect attention towards your family and ask ¡°What¡¯s going on with you?¡±

Children improve relationships and bond to their family members. Making a habit of displaying interest in the well being of your spouse and children will make them more likely to consult family members when there are personal problems occurring.

Actively strengthening family bonds reinforces mutual respect. Children will find you can get more done with good behavior and not by acting out. Adults will find authority is followed more willingly when a child wants to do their best for them. Children will use less talking back as their view of their family unit improves.

There are some partners that don¡¯t understand why their spouses have so much to say to them. Women are verbal and if their husbands often skip opportunities for their wives to vent, it builds up. Too much nervous or aggressive tension can lead to verbal overload in any gender.

Men have the same problem and often take out their need to vent through physical tasks. Men tend to be more aggressive verbally and more avoidant until they believe they have resolved the matter bothering them.

Dominating a conversation or behaving aggressive is disrespectful in a familial relationship. Designating time together will help eliminate these very bad ways of dealing with stress.  This does not mean your spouse can only talk during family time. The opportunity to discuss matters by both spouses will help release any emotional tensions that lead to bad behavior.

Doing a creative project and discussing what is going on in each member¡¯s life is a good way to encourage release.

Many couples have problems diffusing the stress that arises while on their jobs. Talking about how to diffuse those problems can help partners come home happier and have healthier emotional statuses.

Members learn to value one another and are less likely to hurt each other. Families that encourage bonding time, multiple times a week, often say their children have an easier time away from home. Children that do not have to compete with a computer, television, phone or activity for parental attention have an easier time conducting themselves when their parents are not around. Children that know they have a reasonable amount of their parents¡¯ attention do not try to gain it in disruptive dangerous ways.