Do families do things together anymore?

Before i got married i used to go out a lot with my parents and sisters. I had friends, we did go out, but family was important. Now that am married and live with my husband, we go dinner at his parents' place almost every sunday, and try to go visit my parents at least once a week and even my granparents once in a while. My husband is much more into family outings than me. So his dad is often asking about going to picnics by the sea side, going to the garden, or family meetings or outings etc... So yes, we still do things together now and then. Maybe when we'll have kids they won't be the same, but then we'll see.

well i am 20 years old and i am still living with my parents because i couldnt graduate from university yet, anyway we used to do at least our breakfasts when i was young , besides we used to go walking ,shopping etc. all together ,however as i get older my life style started to change , i started to go out , at the weekends coming home late and these kind of things made me to wake up late at the mornings , so it changed our habits completely we dont do the things i mentioned above together anymore ,only thing we do is at night watching television together for one hour and eating dinners together at the weekends because since sunday is barbeque day for us my dad makes barbeque and we eat together at the garden , anyway happy mylottings

Well, the only thing families do together really well is fight. So it is good if some of them break up the party. LOL I don't think we ever did anything together as a family except a couple of family trips. I don't really think much of "family" and prefer a solitary life with my pets and garden. When my aunts and uncles were kids, however, there was a charming evening custom. They would get together and sing popular songs. I think, since they were busy singing, they couldn't quarrel. So the events were very charming indeed. The only time families got together in the past was to eat and pray and sing these songs. And while eating, they were strictly ordered by the head of the family to "eat quietly and quickly" and go. This way the inevitable quarrels were avoided. I am not surprised that some of your kids wanted to do something else. We are all unique however, and we can only agree on one thing -- agree to disagree. Cheers Marlena and thanks for this lovely discussion!!

We are one big family and still living together. Often, on Sundays we go out for picnic or to watch a movie in the theatre. There must be some entertainment in the form of team work which every one enjoys. All week we are working but on weekends there must be some fun or chilling out. I hope you understand what I am trying to say.

It's good that your still trying to keep your family doing things together. back when my kids were growing up, we had a camper on a private lake and there was a pool there. I was lucky because I have 2 boys and they are only 1 yr. and 2 weeks apart. so it was a lot easier. But anyways,they loved to go to the camper. And then every year since they could get into kiddy land at Cedar Point in Ohio we would go every year. I remeber being in kiddy land year after year and getting closer to having the boys tall enough to ride the big roller coasters and we couldn't wait! Then when they were tall enough to ride the big coasters it was even funner because we would still go as a family every year and most of the coasters held 4 people so it was perfect,we could ride together. Keep up trying to keep your family together!!!I think your doing a good job because most mothers don't even try anymore!

Our family find it hard to find the time to all be together. I no longer live at home and have a full time job, my dad works all the time, my mum works part time but, as all mum's do... does everyhting in the house and doesn't get any time to herself, and my brother and sister are both at school and working in between. Last night, however, we went for a really long walk... sounds a little boring I know, but it was just nice to all spend some time together, chatting and catching up on what eachother had been upto, without being distracted by the television or computer. Then we all got some fish and chips and went home. I can understand where you're coming from though, especially when your kids are young teens... maybe just going to the park might be fun. Take a football and some sandwiches?

well my kids are 7 and 2 so getting them together to do something sint the problem yet. there just happy doing something together. but i assume when they are older it will be harder.

We do family night, used to be every Sat but this summer things just havent been going well. We went to the drive-in every Sat. and we are going back to it next year. This year was harder with 2 babies to take but I miss it and the kids said they did too so next year we are giving it another try. We do alot together thou and not just fun stuff, we do wood together and the outside. We normally have a great doing so too! Then after they all go swimming while I get a break and make supper. We do movie nights when time permits and play board games too. We used to talk walks every night but this year that was also to hard to fit in. I think that there is alot to do just to fit it in sometimes is hard. One thing they all like is to go out and toss a ball around or play kickball and such.

My daughter and her family set aside every Friday night as their family night. They each get a turn (including Mom and Dad) choosing what the whole family will do on "their" family night - and all family members are expected to participate. They do put a money limit on it - so they can either go out to eat and then go do something that might be free, like going to the park or playground, or they can eat at home and then go do something that costs - like a movie or roller skating. Since each family member will eventually get their choice, they are not to grumble about what another member of the family wants to do when it's their turn. It is interesting to see the kids each decide and plan what they want to do each time it is their turn - some things that you would never think of yourselves! Sometimes they'll just want to order in a pizza and rent a movie.

Hi...I am married so I no longer live with my parents. But on my mum's side, they do lots of stuff together. One of it is having dinner together everyday without fail. Even if it's an eat out they (mum,dad,sister, brother and aunt) would go together during the weekends for dinner. Sometimes my husband and I would join them for the meals. They also go shopping together like get groceries, window shopping and watch tv after dinner together. It's a nice and fun family homey thing. So now on my own, my husband and I have our meals together and watch tv/movies together. We have no kids yet but when the kids come....we will be instilling this togetherness in them too.

well i think one think that we do together is going to church and praying!!!!

yes, in our house our family eat togethr when we have time due to school and office hours we sometimes dont eat together. but we try to be together.

Nope. My parents, brother, sisters, and I don't really do much together. But the thing here is having problems. You will find it weird that I am not comfortable with the whole bunch.. But I am with just my mom and my brother. We don't do much together.. But if we do, it's only traveling to other countries and eating at home. When my family and I were "happy," we used to go to sports club, watch a movie, eat dinners outside, go to Church together, and shop. Those were the times when we, the kids, were younger. But another thing is, we aren't really a happy family. So there.

Well, my family is really athletic, and so we like to do things together when theyre outside, or physical. we go to the gym and work out together, hikes, camping trips, and stuff like that. if youre having trouble having your kids spend time with you because of electronics (PSP was your example) an outing where they cant use these (camping or ice skating) are great ways to spend time together, since their focus cant be distracted by other things. sitting down for dinner together every night is also really good.

well it is me , my husband , my 11 year old girl, and then my 13 year old girl. we do alot of family things. we ride dirt bikes, fising, target practice, movies, we do a game night with board games and cards, then there is rock band. that is the best. all four of us can play togheter and we all love it. when kids spend the night and we play then we have two singers lol. they share the mic. that is the one thing they are always begging to play. we spend time with each other have fun and we all enjoy. the nieghbor kids even like to play with us. we also do alot of outside stuff like trampoline we do games on it. we get water balloons and put them in with us and etc. we ahve all kinds of lawn games we do on weekends while we cook out side. like yard darts, crocket, bocca, etc. other kids can come over too but me and hubby play with them. the other kids and ours think its great. we are the cool parents even though my kids dont have tvs in room, game systems in rooms, cellphones, go to the movies without us, etc we are still considered to be the coolest parents cause we get out there and act like kids with them. only we dont let them do stupid stuff.

Yes we do. At least once a week we make a point of having dinner together. We also go places on my hubbys day off. Once a year or ever other depending on his schedule he also goes to the family reunion. Some families make more effort than others I am sure. But it is worth it.

Have you tried a family game night? We do that and its fun, we play cards and board games, I've watched tons of movies the kids like just to spend time with them. Also, try volunteering some place together, it will bring back that bond of helping each other while helping somebody else that all families long for. Take on a project that's not home related, it makes it seems like a chore to the kids at first, but if you show them that a family is stronger when they are together will help them to realize what it takes to run a home. Hope that helps, good luck.

Well with my son still being 7, finding things for us to do is still pretty easy. My husband and I try to take him on vacation at least once during the Summer. Smaller, less expensive things that keep us busy is playing board games or cards, watching movies, dining out, going to our park, playing and riding the train...we've gone fishing once....that was interesting. Luckily we're very close to my husband's side of the family. We're always hanging out together and having dinner. I don't think it really matters what you're doing as long as you're doing something together. It's the quality time that matters most. Set up some sort of scheduled "Family" time, where everyone has to be included and participate. If you have a large family, then I'd suggest each person gets to take turns deciding what you'll be doing. As long as it stays within the budget. You can even have little guidelines..like no complaining (teenagers can be difficult following this one), everyone takes a turn, no electronics are to be included unless it's part of the scheduled event, no phone calls (unless emergancy). Sometimes it may feel like you're having to force everybody to join in but my guess is pretty soon they'll warm up to it and begin to look forward to "family night".

Hi! Mom of 2, my girls are still young yet but that doesn't stop us from going out and doing stuff. We've been to the Seattle Zoo twice now, to fairs, we've gone on a ferry ride to one of the islands nearby. Also if its something you've never seen we've been to Mt Rushmore, and its a very awesome sight to behold, it quiet literally made me cry because i thought i'd never see it in my lifetime. Also movies are a good way to sit down, pick out 4-6 movies and say "pick 2" or any random number and then sit down and watch it. Or you could play games or complete a puzzle in a number of days. We're always constantly thinking of new things to do, you could also go to the beach or an amusement park.

no they prefer to live alone now a days