family Pursuits Blog

Give yourself a pat on the back if you guessed from the title that this blog will be all about things that a family can do together!

Laughter

They say that a family that laughs together stays together, and I know one family that is a living example of the truth of that idea. The parents are strict with their children, keeping them up to their homework and music practice, but they are laughing and joking all the time that they are together.

singing in harmony together is another pursuit that is great for encouraging togetherness in a family. You may not be able to have a barbershop quartet, but you can manage a duet.

I'm going to have to divide this blog into categories mostly by guesswork. Perhaps you could help me with suggestions about categories of things that would interest a lot of families.

For instance I'm unlikely to have a category about laughter because I don't think there would be much interest in that category.

Hobbies

Our family enjoyed bee-keeping.

My brother and I would chase after a swarm as it flew across the village until we saw where it landed. Then we would put a cardboard box above the swarm so that the bees would go up into the darkness. Then we would close the box and take it home.

Dad made the beehives, except when he hadn't time, then Mum would make a hive. My sister limited herself to cooking with the honey that we extracted.

dog training the family pet is another good project. One person should do all the initial training, but once your puppy knows what come means, any family member can reinforce the command with lot of praise and an occasional tidbit. Parents can drive the dog to obedience training classes with the child who is doing the training, and learn a lot at the same time.

Your children will no longer hate healthy recipes if they grow their own vegetables for them in a natural organic garden, free of all the nasty poisons in the supermarkets.

Studying

I might have a category about singing together, and I'll definitely have a category about studying together.

This might be about parents helping kids with their homework or about kids helping their parents with their adult education homework. I'm not joking, kids often know more about computers for example than their parents do.

If the parents think they are up to it, try telling a story that stops at a cliff-hanger after a few minutes and the next one round the circle continues with the story for a few minutes from where it left off. The kids probably will have better imaginations than the adults do! Both kids and adults are learning many things from this exercise which can be a lot of fun.

Selling

I've just read a book that says that we brainwash kids into being poor at selling.

They all start off being superb at selling to their parents. A kid tries one psychological approach. If it doesn't work she tries another, and another… until she gets what she wants.

Why can't she sell as a teenager? Well, she doesn't know other people as well as her parents, but that is a poor excuse - just ask questions to find out about people.

Parents should encourage their children to sell anything and everything. It may be something from the garden. It may be some honey if you have a hive. It may be that you start to tell a visitor about something clever that your child did, then ask the child to describe it to the visitor.

Selling is the most important life skill. You may object that your child is set on being a second Einstein and will never be a salesman. But unless your children can sell themselves to prospective employers they will never get near a laboratory. They will be lucky to get jobs sweeping the streets.

When there are many candidates for a job, the job goes to the one best at selling himself.

handcrafts

This is an obvious category. You can all work on a project. For instance one person might draw a suitable picture, another transfers it to a backing cloth, then you all join in to make a colourful and salable rug. Then the kids set out to sell it.

Extreme Family Pursuits

Just how extreme can I make a subject and still make it a credible family pursuit?

Sky Diving

I've seen a photograph of a family sky-diving. Even the Scotch Terrier dog had a little harness of his own and was dropping through the skies near the children. The dog didn't seem worried, so must have done it several times before.

Scuba Diving

You don't even all have to plunge beneath the waves for this one. One person can be responsible for keeping the air tanks full and the harness in good condition, so that the others know they can rely on the safety of the equipment. Another can get everything ready to start cooking the fish or crayfish that are caught by the divers.

Survival

This is all about going into the wild and working out which are the greatest threats to survival and how to deal with them. For instance if you go through a hot desert your greatest lack will be water.

Learn how to find water, or extract it. For instance, if you mash cacti into pulp in the bottom of a hole and put a dish in the centre of the hole, spread a clear plastic sheet over the hole, with a pebble weighing down the center over the dish. The sun will extract water from the cactus pulp.

Or you could be stranded in the snow. Water is not a problem. Keeping warm is the problem. Lack of water can kill you in a day or two. Cold can kill you in an hour or two. Learn how to handle the cold.

First aid

With any extreme sports, or even just working round the house accidents can happen. Each member of the family should do a refresher first aid course each year, then you will all be ready when something goes really wrong.

Future Categories

Anyhow you get the ideas. Look at the categories available and see if you can suggest another category of family pursuits.