We missed Saturday's adult session because we had tickets to the cinematic pop concert. Which, by the way, Eric and I loved!
We missed the Sunday session since we assumed we had the link, and we didn't realize we didn't until conference had already started. Instead of rushing to get everyone ready, we decided to stay home and declared it our family day.
I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts (Happier with Gretchen Rubin) a few weeks ago and they mentioned have a "power day." Basically, the extension of a power hour to a whole day of getting things done you've been needing to do. In essence, that's what family day became. A power day to focus on our family, to do things we've been meaning to do, and to discuss things we've been meaning to discuss.
Eric and I made a list of things we wanted to accomplish during the day and we crossed them off as we went.
We actually got through quite a bit of our list that day. We started with snuggle time. Everyone shared their enthusiasm in favor of this one (said in my most sarcastic voice). But I think it was an important one. Eric assigned spots on the couch and we had to sit as close as we could. We listened to a 7 min episode of a Mormon channel daily podcast during our cuddle time. Seven minutes turned into a bit longer because we had to keep starting the podcast over and over because some individuals were not sure about this great idea--even going as far as referring to our brilliance as torture. But we believe in the power of touch and sitting there all smushed together definitely brought power into our family and centered us for the rest of the day. But I can't believe I missed out on the family selfie that could've been.
The rest of the day, we rotated between a family activity and then 10-30 min away from each other each time. Many of us here are introverts and we do need some recharge time on our own. Especially me.
The playing, the reading, the cleaning, and the games (nerts!) were all great. But our family discussions were at the heart of our family day.
Some thing that was said and then sung at the cinematic pop concert the night before got me thinking about our family and a specific problem right now and an idea came to me then about how to help address it. Eric and I counseled about my idea on the way home from the concert and that's how we decided we needed to have a discussion about our family culture. What do Allred's do? What do Allred's value? What do we enjoy together? What do we wish for our family? We started by having everyone brainstorm individually about what makes up our family culture. We then shared our answers and wrote them on a whiteboard. Eric and I had planned to then work on making a small little poster to display our family culture. But the children's ideas were flying during that discussion and so we are hoping to make something bigger happen. Still tweaking those ideas, but it will come together.
Our other big discussion was about creating a set of family rules. Our collaboration resulted in the CROWLS. And the fact that when someone needs a reminder of these rules, we can then ask "Do you C R OWLS?"
C: communication
R: respect
O: order
W: work
L: learn
S: serve
This is how Perry participated in family day....
B had her role, too.
Family day was exactly what we needed. We accomplished important things, enjoyed each other's company, and came closer together as a family.
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