Here is an example of how communicating with your kids can take on a life of its own.  Yesterday in the car on the way home, we had a classic conversation:

Little Person:  Wow! We were so lucky to see all those gooses go to the lake yesterday…Goose? Gooses?

Me:  Geese

Little Person:  Yeah, a herd of geese.

Me.  Gaggle.

Little Person: Oh, yeah, a gaggle.  Oh, look there is a gaggle of antelope.

Me:  Well, that’s a herd.

Little Person:  Yeah, herd.  Look, look up in the sky, it is a gaggle of birds all together!

Me:  Flock. Geese are in gaggles.

Little Person: Flock?  Oh, yeah, flock.  And you told me it is a little of kittens and puppies.

Me:  Litter.  You are doing really well at remembering.

How Does This Translate to Communicating with Your Kids

How do you spend time with your gaggle, herd, or litter (family) to make memories?  Are you confident that you are really communicating with your kids in effective ways? If you want your family to be a cohesive unit, doing things together is the key.  I don’t mean earmarking every Sunday for a drive around the forest or desert or used car lots (trust me, I did that on Sundays as a kid…).   I’m talking about something your family likes and doing that together. You know, activities that only cost an investment of time, saving you lots of money over extravagant trips and gifts. In other words, FREE.

Some families have game night.  Others volunteer someplace or spend an evening putting together gift boxes for shut-ins.  Still other families simply have a regular popcorn and movie night and rotate who picks the movie.

We know now that family relationships are strengthened through simple activities done together.  As I grew up, my family didn’t do many of those things.  If yours did, you could probably share some great ideas with the rest of us about fun family activities.

Because I didn’t have anything to draw from in this arena as I raised my children, I began making stuff up so we could interact.  One idea went over especially well.  Okay, so not everyone was excited about it, but they were willing to try.  Although I didn’t like to cook, the rest of the family did. We cooked meals together or in teams, with the team getting to choose what we had for that meal. We only did that on weeknights and only for a week at a time before we switched up team members.

Occasionally, I had to keep my nutritionally-minded mouth shut because dinner could consist of cereal with popcorn for dessert. The idea was to praise the team who prepared the meal.  That act of preparing the meal set up the dinner time mood, and mealtimes became more light-hearted.  Honestly, any night I didn’t have to cook was a light-hearted one for me!

Keeping Our Goal in Mind

Let’s face it, parents, the goal is to bring our little flock closer together without elaborate plans or much money.  (For other methods I devised, click here.)  Sometimes small changes can make the biggest impact.

So, enjoy your gaggle or herd or litter while you have them, stomping through your home, making noise and making memories.  They will take flight before you know it.

Here’s a Suggestion for Communicating with Your Kids

Would you like a free book to read to or with your children? Reading is a great way to communicate with your kids. You can download this free book to your smart phone and take it with you to fill the time with fun stories when you find yourself waiting somewhere with them.  It is Five Fun Animal Adventures from Africa, and tells of my time in Africa as I encountered wild animals and other creatures, including some crazy baboons and a particularly grouchy lion.  Each short chapter ends with a valuable life lesson. Send for your free book today!

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE BOOK