1. Building Strong Families

2. Strong Family?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_C mBsi17_0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_C mBsi17_0

3. Commitment  Make your family come first.  They go with each other when one of them has an activity.  An investment of time, energy, spirit, and heart.  We should also tell them about our day – then we are sharing.  Beware of the demands of outside interests – remember your first job is ----- the family.  The commitment is in writing – a mission statement.  Decide what you want to stand for. Start with one sentence.  Mission statements change as the family changes.

4. Time Together  Instead of giving in to the complaint that there just isn’t enough time, make time.  Quality time is a function (better than) of quantity time.  Peak experiences  Vacations  Camping  Continuous experiences  Eating together  Chores  Doing homework  The purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship

5. Appreciation  ***Feeling worthwhile and valuable is one of the most basic human needs.  Words of praise and encouragement rather than fault-finding and belittlement

6. Communication  Good Communication helps create:  A sense of belonging in a family  Empathy between its members  Takes effort and practice

7. Decision-Making and Responsibility  Healthy families, including children, cooperate with each other in making decisions  Share household responsibilities  NEGOTIATION

8. Problem Solving  Strong families can solve problems in creative ways.  Happy families have the same number of arguments, but they have spaces filled with happy times.  It is ok to have problems, but the key is to solve them quickly.  The longer you are in an argument, the harder it is to get out. Why?  Confidences in their ability to meet problems and solve them.

9. Values and Spiritual Well-Being  Healthy families have a strong moral base in values and spiritual beliefs.  Share goals and ideas about what is important.

10.  Make a list of 10 activities you can do with your family to build your family strength.

11. Performance Objective #6

12. Strengthen Family Relationships Activity  Select three of the seven strategies of strengthens families’ relationships.  Any extra done will be extra credit  Implement this strategy.  Explain what you did  How did you see it influence your family relationships?  Evaluate the strategy. Did the strategy strengthen your family? How?  How can you see this activity building unity in your family in the future?

13. Traditions

14. Fiddler on the Roof

15. Wedding Traditions  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwS4 GGmZrt0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwS4 GGmZrt0.

16. Wedding Tradition – Croatian Wedding Obiljezje is Croatian for a “mark” and before the concept of a diamond engagement ring became the way to propose, Croats would propose marriage using an obiljezje. This was usually a piece of fruit, typically an apple with money coins pressed into it

17. Wedding Traditions – Czech Republic The Czech bride has to wear on her wedding day, beyond the wedding dress, something new, something old, something borrowed, and something blue. Blue is usually the garter, which will come in handy later in the wedding day. Something borrowed is usually from some happily married girlfriend, so that the newly-married couple will also be happy. Something old comes from the bride’s family, mostly some family jewel. Something new represents the new period of life that the bride is going to start.

18. Holiday Traditions  What are your holiday traditions?

19. Birthday Traditions  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7Vj Qmj3mqA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7Vj Qmj3mqA

20. Your Family Traditions  What are your family traditions?  Answer the questions regarding your family traditions

21. Whether you have grown up in a strong family or not, it is possible to have a strong and healthy family of your own. If your present family is a good model to follow, transfer those strengths to your new family. If not, rather than blame others, yourself, or circumstances, take responsibility for making your future family the kind of family that nurtures and loves its members. If doesn’t just happen by accident. It takes effort and determination; but it’s worth it. Investing in your family is the best investment in the future you can make.