Family Nights Accomplish Much
© 1998 Dick Wulf, MSW, LCSW

Few things are better than a regular Family Night to stabilize a family and give kids a feeling that the family is a priority. Try this out and see if it helps your family.

We’re talking FUN here, not a family business meeting.  For business see the web article How to Use Family Meetings to Solve Family Problems.

Family Nights should be weekly, but if the family just cannot make that happen, every other week should be the minimum. If kids and mothers and fathers are to be able to look forward to being with their family, a foundation of fun times together is priceless.

When your children are young, you will do much of the planning. But remember that people grow through making decisions. So involve the kids in deciding what to do as much as possible.

As your kids get older, hand more and more responsibility for the Family Nights over to them. When my three daughters were teenagers, each one was responsible for one Family Night a month. I was responsible for the fourth. Their mother was responsible for helping with food, and she planned any fifth Family Night that came along in a month.

Hardly ever should you cancel a Family Night. Instead, postpone it to the next available time. That might have to be a Saturday morning.

And having a regular Family Night does not mean not doing things together on the weekends. The difference is that Family Night is something regular and predictable, while weekend activities are often spontaneous and flexible – and sometimes do not happen at all. The predictability of a Family Night gives kids a sense of stability. They can see that the family is important if it has its own regular time for fun, relationships and enjoyment.

Dick Wulf, MSW, LCSW
Colorado Springs, Colorado