How to Keep a Family Happy

Everybody wants to have a happy family but many people don't know what to do in order to accomplish this. The following is a list of traits that will help towards making this a reality.

- Have harmony and peace within your family. Living in harmony is more likely to be a reality if your life is organized. When things are orderly, it is easier to be calm and it is less likely that chaos will reign.
- Be committed to your family in general and to each individual within the family unit. Family should come before work, social life, or self. Each member within a family should be willing to forego their own gratification for the sake of their family.
- Let your family know that you appreciate them and what they do; be positive when expressing your appreciation.
- Spend time with your family; even families can become strangers if they don't communicate and spend time together. Time spent together will build memories for sharing in the future.
- Have fun together and enjoy each other's company; families can be friends too.
- Be there for each other. When I think of who I can count on, my family members are the first that jump to mind.
- Support each other and pull together in a crisis.
- Show affection for your family and be considerate of them; often people treat their friends better than they do family members.
- Try to develop some common interests and goals.
- Be flexible and accepting of differences. Each of us is different; just because we do something a certain way does not neccessarily mean it is the only way to do it.
- Show each other respect; be trustworthy and honest.
- When you have made a mistake, admit it and try to make amends. Never hesitate to say, 'I'm sorry'. We all do make mistakes but the situation becomes worse if the wrong doer insists he is right.
- Have regular family get togethers and laugh a lot. Having a sense of humor helps through the rough spots.
- Occasionally let older children share in some of the decision-making.
- Keep promises that have been made.

My family, consisting of five grown children and their families, are all very close. We have regular family occasions for birthdays (and there are a lot in a family this size), Easter, Thanksgiving and of course, Christmas and New Years Day dinner. When someone in the family moves, we're all there to help out. My sons go to hockey games together; some of the women go to flea markets and others of us get together for a glass of wine. Besides these whole family occasions, individually we sometimes get together for lunch - because we like each other.

We phone each other for suggestions, recipes and chats. We share items we no longer need, giving our family members first opportunity to claim the item. One son just gave my daughter their coffee table; I gave one son my silver wine glasses which he loves. My daughter passes her clothes on to me and grandchildren's clothes are shared. And I babysit my grandchildren.

Admittedly having a close family situation such as this is easier for us than for many others. We are continuing a way of living that has been going on for many years in our family. We don't have to start a new way of doing things; only ensure that we continue to respect, love and honor our family and to remember that what we give comes back to us many times over.