7 Reasons to Spend Time with Family This Holiday Season
Our calendars are filled up with work, school, homework, and many other activities throughout the year. It is getting harder to find enough free time to spend with your loved ones. However, holidays are a perfect opportunity to be with your family uninterrupted and it is a perfect escape from the demands of everyday life.
This is a chance to make priceless memories that last a lifetime and enjoy moments of laughter and fun, but there are many other benefits of spending time with your family during the holidays.
Disconnecting from technology
Disconnecting from technology will help you realize the importance of face-to-face conversation with your family members. You will enjoy hearty, honest interactions, without being distracted by the digital world.
Sharing pre- and post-holiday happiness
Planning holidays in advance will let your brain produce more “happy” hormones, which will result in a cheerful, more positive attitude that increases performance in school and at work. This effect will also last for a couple of weeks after the holiday.
Spending time with family helps kids develop parenting skills
Children love spending time with their parents, and that helps them develop parenting skills because kids learn by example. They will apply the parenting skills they learn from you to their future children and treat their siblings the way you treat them.
More family time results in fewer behavioral problems
Children who communicate more with their parents tend to have fewer behavioural issues. Communication is the key to the solution to many problems. If you help your children learn to talk through their problems while they are little, they will keep doing the same when they grow older. This is especially important for teenagers who are going through a lot of hard moments, and there is no better thing for them than caring, non-judgmental advice from their parents. That kind of approach will help them choose better solutions for their problems in adulthood, too.
More family time builds greater self-confidence
Family can foster healthy self-esteem and a positive self-concept by helping the child develop important skills that lead to self-confidence, like social confidence and problem-solving skills. This will change the way family members see themselves, and their ability to succeed in life. If parents show a positive value of themselves, the children will learn to value themselves too.
Family time strengthens family bonding
Many people think that only fancy activities that require a bigger sum of money can impact the “health” of the family. Even low-cost, home-based activities like playing a board game, gardening, or playing outdoors can make everyone involved feel closer to each other emotionally. The strengthening of bonds is one of the most important benefits of spending holidays with your family.
Trying new things
Being on a holiday means that you are more relaxed than usual and more open to new ideas. There is no safer and more comfortable feeling than being with your family, and vacations are a perfect time to do something you haven’t done before. Each member of your family can pick the activity they enjoy, and then everyone should participate.
Have You Started Making Plans for Your Next Family Holiday?
We live in an age when technology and busy schedules disconnect us from reality. We are unable to make time and visit our family, and sometimes we think that a birthday wish written on social media can replace human interaction.
All of this affects the connection we have with our family members and although we don’t see that right away, we don’t even have a chance to connect on a deeper level. The best way to prevent this from happening to you is to spend quality time with your family.
Vacation or Staycation?
There are benefits and drawbacks to both a vacation and a staycation. It is up to you to decide what you are wanting to get out of the experience.
Vacation Benefits
Explore New Climates and Landforms
Oftentimes when we see something every day, it tends to lose its significance. If you don’t live near one, then a trip to a hot spring might be exciting to you. Certain naturally occurring rarities are recommended to be experienced at least once. Obviously, if you don’t live near it, you will have to travel to it. Sometimes you have to feed into your wanderlust side and go explore something new!
Leave Your World Behind
Be honest. How often do you sit at your job and daydream about being on a beach somewhere? Probably a lot, so sometimes it’s good to just go indulge in that fantasy every once in a while. Day-to-day stress can really get you down, so it’s nice to shake things up and forget about your worries for a bit with a getaway trip. Since a lot of people have had to work remotely, they are ready to seize the day!
Reconnect With Loved Ones
Unless all of your family and friends live nearby, you most likely have a connection with someone outside of your area. While we have discovered the beauty of video chats, it is not the same as going to visit that person. For some people, it has been years since they have seen their loved ones. Now is the time to catch up and give those much-needed hugs. While you’re visiting, it might be fun to explore the area and make memories with your loved ones!
Vacation Drawbacks
Let’s face it. Vacations can cause more stress than relaxation. There are a number of reasons why that is. For example:
Money
Yeah, this is the most obvious one. Not everyone has the budget to travel somewhere new and pay for travel, lodging, excursions, food, cars/transportation, and anything else that pops up. On top of that, it is difficult to get paid time off, meaning that it could cost you to not be at work.
Schedules
If you manage to get time off work, then you have to be able to schedule your trip around the days you have off. There’s usually a day at the beginning and end of the trip that is devoted to travel only. If you’re flying, then you have to make sure that you get to the airport on time to make your flight. Connecting flights can sometimes cause delays in your trip if any leg of the trip is not on time. Having to hurry up and wait can turn a lot of people off to this form of travel. It can make you feel more tired than before!
Managing Expectations
There is a lot of pressure to make your trip worthwhile. You have invested so much time and money into this vacation. Any tiny detail going wrong could throw off the whole trip. Maybe the airport lost your luggage, or you forgot to pack that really important thing that you needed, or you get sick and spent the entire vacation in the hotel. It’s hard to not get upset when things aren’t perfect after spending a ton of money to get there.
Staycation Benefits
You may think you’ve seen it all, but there is a chance that adventure is waiting right outside your door! A staycation could either be in your own city, or just outside of it, but it is treated just like a regular vacation. You are off work, so enjoy your time off!
Low-Cost Splurging
Yeah, this is just the inverse of the drawback from the vacation section, but this is why staycations are a thing! We need to enjoy the breaks we have even if we can’t travel very far. Some people make their staycations super cost-effective by staying in their homes, while some choose to stay in a hotel nearby. Either way, you are saving a ton of money by cutting out the travel aspect alone. Maybe you’re able to go on a cheap vacation, but you won’t be able to do too much while you’re at your destination. If that’s the case, splurge on things at home like a limo to a winery, take that yoga class you’ve been putting off or have someone clean your house while you’re at work and come back to a beautiful oasis. These might never be something you would do for yourself, but it’s a fun treat!
Relaxed Schedule
Once you’re off from work, your staycation has started! There isn’t as much packing required because you’re most-likely planning day trips or staying at a nearby hotel. You have more time to enjoy your morning without stress. Standard vacations pressure you to have fun every single second of the day. Staycations let you actually relax on your vacation and come back to your real life feeling refreshed.
Discover Your Surroundings
You’d be surprised at how much you can still discover in your area. A quick Google search of obscure or unique things to do in your city could come up with a multitude of adventures.
Staycation Drawbacks
Maybe staycations aren’t perfect either. For instance:
Limited Luxury
If you’re staying in your own home, then you have to clean up after yourself. Housekeeping won’t come in to change your sheets or fold the towels into a swan (or whatever they do). Unfortunately, you have to go out and buy the mints to place on your own pillow. Complimentary breakfasts require someone to get out of bed and make it, which few people want to do on vacation. There are countless tips and lists on how to make sure you’re getting the most out of your staycation, but ultimately, you still have to be responsible for things you probably wouldn’t have to be if you had stayed at a hotel.
May Become TOO Relaxing
As nice as it is to have time to chill, you might end up going through your staycation without doing anything. Without having an itinerary to give you an idea of what you want to do, you might talk yourself out of leaving the house. Why would you get up and get dressed if you don’t have to go to work? Staying at home can give you a bit of a weekend feel, discouraging you from making the most of your day.
Confined To Your Surroundings
The whole point of a vacation is to escape. If you usually take a summer vacation to somewhere not too hot or too cold, you might feel as though a staycation isn’t worth the time off. Staycations aren’t for everyone. If you are itching to get away, then you might feel a bit ripped off.
The Takeaway
It all comes down to a matter of preference and budget. Talk it over with your family and find out what everyone wants to do and what you can afford to do. The point of taking time off is to relax and spend time with loved ones. Whatever sounds the most relaxing to you is the best option. Don’t put unnecessary stress on yourself in the name of taking a break.
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