All families, big or small, create traditions. And in a family as big as mine, it’s the simple traditions that seem to hold the most meaning.
Our house is a hectic one and Sundays are often the day to squeeze in visits with family and friends or catch up on things like projects and homework. By the time the eve of a new week comes, we are all more than ready to spend some quiet time together. At our house, that means unplugging from technology by way of “Screenless Sundays”. TVs, computers and other various gadgets get shelved. It’s not always easy. Admittedly, when a new baby has entered the scene or things have been more hectic than usual, we have been known to turn the TV in desperation – but we reserve those little cheats for emergencies and on the whole a night without media is welcomed by grown ups and kids alike.
Our Sunday evening festivities look something like this:
1) We all eat dinner together. OK, let me rephrase that – they all eat dinner together as I hop up and down cutting food on children’s plates, fetching the milk jug, etc. I know some families manage to sit down for dinner together every night, but that is impossible around here. Daddy-o works long hours and I like to have the kids fed before heading off to their evening sports and activities. Eating dinner together is a treasured Sunday night event in our busy household.
2) Kids do the after dinner clean-up. It’s important kids understand that being a family means cleaning up each others’ mess. There is a lot of fun chatting and banter during a clean-up. There’s also some bickering, but we try to focus on the positives!
3) Pull out the cards! Once the table has been cleared and wiped, it’s primed for a few hands of Crazy Eights and GO Fish. Daddy-o keeps the little ones occupied while I play cards with the biggies!
4) Blind Man’s Bluff – nothing tops Screenless Sunday like a couple rounds of Blind Man’s Bluff. Never played it? I get blindfolded and chase the kids around the room until I catch them. The kids are full of antics and strategies to avoid capture. The game is so much fun that we had to implement a “no crying rule”. If you cry when you get caught, you have to sit out the next round. It is a great challenge in self-control!
5) Quick snack and story time and it’s off to bed by 8:00 p.m. – Monday morning comes early!
So if you’re looking for a way to carve out some special family time at your house, feel free to hijack the Screenless Sunday tradition from our family. Do you have a fun family evening tradition worth sharing?
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My kids love when we have family games night. It’s a great bonding moment. Our favourite game of the moment is bananagrams. An educational game fun for ages 8-99. The game is a lot like scrabble minus the board. The first player to use all their tiles is the winner. We love games that the children enjoy but are still challenging for the adults.
you are reminding me that I need to reinact our family game night. though, a day without t.v. might the day I go down in flames.
I LOVE this idea!
We do Family Game Night and one of our favourites is Charades! The kids get to pick what game they want to play. We also either order something in for dinner or do a “buffet” style dinner with bread, meats, cheeses, fruits, veg and everyone can just pick what they want. Simple and satisfying!