Creating Your Frazzle-Free Family

Take a minute to sit back and think about a time when your family was operating smoothly and everyone was feeling pretty good. What was going on?

Below are some of the things that come to mind for my family when things are going well.

Everyone is

• pitching in with household tasks
• joining the family for meals
• acting respectful
• feeling supported and loved
• remembering to let the rest of the family know where they are and when they'll be home
• feeling like they have enough time and don't have to rush
• healthy, getting enough rest and exercise
• having some time for fun

Do these things happen all the time? No, but when they do happen, our family atmosphere is more pleasant.

Beginning with Changing Yourself

What changes could you make to your own behavior which would positively impact your family? Since you absolutely control your own behavior, you can make these changes happen!

Gretchen Rubin invested a year working on changing her life for the better. Each month she focused on a different part of her life and described her journey in The Happiness Project. She tackled things like going to bed earlier, organizing her things, asking for help, stopping nagging, acknowledging people's feelings and taking time to be silly.

(read the rest of the article at Priceless Parenting)