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How To Build A Strong Family Unit – 6 Ways To Strengthen Family Bonds

Accomplishing a strong family doesn’t happen by accident. How your family looks 10, 15, and 20 years down the road is the result of the work you’re putting in right now. You’re doing such a great job with your child. I want you to know how to build a strong family unit because all your parenting and child training efforts need a place to live. That place is your amazing, beautiful family! So let’s talk about building a strong family foundation for a bit, and in the process, I’ll give you 6 stellar actions you can take to make your family rock-solid!

family building strong family bonds by playing tug of war on the beach

Have I ever told you the story of how this blog got its original name (A Family Meeting?) For the sake of time, the short version is this: When my oldest child was just a year old, our little family started having a family meeting every week.

We’d get together and talk about events coming up, troubles we were having, issues to address (while the baby babbled away:) and give praise reports for things going well!

11 years later, there are now 6 of us and we are still having a family meeting every single week. Our family is a strong family unit and I know weekly family meetings have played a huge role in our success!

Make The Most Of Your Family Time

The 24 hours we have in a day to invest in our family isn’t very much. Not when you consider the time we spend sleeping, and simply keeping ourselves alive. So we need to make certain the things we are doing to build a strong family are effective and pack as much punch as possible.

While the ways you can work on building your family team are more numerous than I can list in this one blog post, there are 6 that have proved to be the most powerful for us.

Implementing them is bound to give you the same stellar results they’ve given us. (We’ll talk about why I am so confident of that in a bit.)

How To Build A Strong Family Unit

#1. Have A Family Meeting, Every Week.

Coming together every week is one of my favorite ways to stay connected as a family. These meetings have evolved and changed over the years, but the one thing that has always remained the same is sharing our hearts.

We have a time at the end of every meeting to air whatever grievances, sadness or hurts we’re carrying. This has been so valuable for our children and is absolutely their favorite part of A Family Meeting.

Head over here to read more about how to conduct a family meeting with small children.

#2. Have A Regular Date Night With Your Spouse.

I know, I know… money. Let me just tell you something though. Before I started this blog, my husband and I went out on a date about once every other month. We don’t have a plethora of babysitters, and we live on one income.

So finding the time, money and help to have a more frequent date night was difficult, to say the least.

Since my blogging commitments have increased, the time we have for dates has decreased. My hubby and I decided that we would have one night a week to hang out. I’ll be honest, sometimes that one single night is all we get. He travels a lot and I am in bed early.

However, since starting our weekly date nights we are spending more intentional “date” time together than we were before. We don’t go anywhere, we don’t spend any money and we always have a blast!

We both look so forward to our one night a week. Regular date nights can be free and simple. Just make it a priority. Mom and Dad are the pillars of a strong family.

Your marriage must be nurtured for every other part of your family to hold up well! Check here for 18 At-Home Date Ideas!

#3. Establish Family Government

You and I are the kinds of folks who like rules. Rules are there for a reason and we don’t have to look far to see the benefits. Traffic laws are in place so we don’t kill each other with our vehicles, etc.

The hierarchy within your home should make it a place of peace and order. Someone is in charge. When that person is gone, someone else is in charge. Rules and standards are set in place. As well as positive and negative consequences accordingly.

Clearly defining a chain of command, what your family stands for, acceptable and unacceptable behaviors and the benefits you all share by being equally important members of the same team sets everyone up for success!

#4. Operate As A Team

A team has a united purpose. To WIN! You want your family to win. To win at getting along, win at taking care of your home, win at liking each other, and win at supporting each other, to name a few.

Teach your child that he is part of a team. Your team has a name. That name is Team your last name! Work together to accomplish common goals such as taking care of your home. And throw in some fun team-building activities like these as well!

#5. Go On Family Outings

I tend to overthink family outings. I might put it off one month, falsely thinking I need to come up with a bunch of money to take all 6 of us to a movie or bowling or something.

Then I remember, most of my children’s favorite memories of family outings are from activities we did for FREE. Such as a trail walk, picnic in a park, or window shopping. Get out of the house together every month and show yourselves off to the world.

We need to see more families like yours, out and about, having fun and being happy together!

#6. Parent-Child Dates

Ooooh, the power of a parent-child date! I can’t even tell you how powerful this is for a family. Stop for a minute and look around. Go ahead, just do it…. Notice all the things around you begging for attention?

Right this second you are looking at a screen. And there are more of these screens in your home. Technology can be a valuable gift and is certainly essential for living in today’s modern world.

However, screens, work demands, and social expectations try hard to pull families in different directions. Scheduling a date night alone with your child gives you an opportunity to intentionally stare into his tiny face and nothing else.

This post here will help you plan your parent-child date, as well as give date ideas. And this post lists the benefits of parent-child dates.

How Do I Know You’ll Be Successful Building A Strong Family Foundation?

Finally, all 6 of these ideas take time. I’m confident implementing them will build a strong family because the areas of life you cultivate will always produce a fruitful harvest! You’ll find yourself spending a lot of time devoted to your family!

That’s entirely the point. When you put time, energy and focus on something it gets good! That’s what you want for your family.

Before you know it your little family will look a lot different than it does right now. One day, in the not too distant future your crew will be back down to two. By implementing all 6 of these actionable steps, you can establish a strong family unit that you are proud to have built!

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Hi there! I'm Mama Duck,

I'm a stay-at-home/work-at-home, homeschooling Mama of 4 beautiful kiddos, wife to my loving husband, Parenting Coach, Speaker, and Writer. I adore the sound of my children's giggles, that first sip of hot coffee, and a snuggly blanket fresh out of the dryer. Here on Faithful Parenting, my heart is to equip mamas with the skills, knowledge, and biblical wisdom to raise fantastic kids and build a tethered family!