Life is much easier when you have a supportive family that sticks with you through thick and thin. Family relationship is important for a person at every stage of life. In this post, we talk about the importance of family, its characteristics, and ways to build a strong relationship with family members.
What Constitutes a Family?
A family constitutes people who are related to each other and share an emotional bond and similar values
- Family members can be related by birth, marriage, or adoption
- Nuclear family includes parents, siblings, spouse, and children
- Joint family includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews
- Blended family includes children from both parents’ previous marriages
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a family relationship in simple words?
- A family relationship involves interaction between all the members
- It typically includes living under one roof, communicating, taking care of each other, dealing with challenges, carrying forward family traditions, and giving each member a sense of belonging
- Family relationships include various kinships in a larger family setup. Examples include husbands and wives, parents and children, in-laws, and family of spouses
Why are Family Relationships Important?
Our mental growth, well-being, and stability all depend on our family
- A family allows us to feel safe, protected, accepted, and loved despite our shortcomings
- Strong relationships teach us how to build trust in others as family members share both good and bad times together
Establish clear family rules
small but clear rules can make the family stronger and more peaceful
- For example, “We talk respectfully with everyone in our family,” or “In our family, we help each other no matter what.”
- These are simple, yet effective ways to create a family rulebook.
Characteristics of a Strong Family
Good communication
- Share a feeling of togetherness
- Spend time with each other
- Lead by example
- Support its members
- See a crisis situation as an opportunity to grow
- Focus on every member’s well-being
- Show resilience
Teach children to forgive and make amends
Healthy families teach their members how to apologize, and forgive others when someone makes a mistake.
- Take responsibility for your actions and have fun family rituals, which are special to your family, to increase the sense of belongingness.
Spend quality time
Set aside some time (maybe meal times) every day as family time, when you can talk about things and laugh together.
- Share family stories or ask everyday simple things to encourage conversation, such as “Hey, what did you do today in the school?”
Maintain good communication with everyone in the family
When your children or spouse want to talk, respect their need and listen to them with attention
- Be approachable to talk about difficult things
- Encourage non-verbal conversation through simple gestures like a warm kiss on the forehead
