Fourth of July PicnicHappy Fourth of July!

A big holiday like this begs the question:

If our regular FHE time falls on a big family holiday, do we really have to do all the holiday things AND family home evening, too?

I love this question because it invites some other thought-provoking questions.

  1. Have you set up your family home evenings so you can do them practically, regardless of what else is going on?
  2. Do you LIKE how you do your family home evenings? Do you generally WANT to do them because they are enjoyable?
  3. Are you overscheduling yourself? If so, is this a chronic thing you do that affects the quality of your family time?
  4. What are your personal guidelines for what you consider a successful family home evening and how rigid are those guidelines?

If you are looking for an excuse to “get out of” doing family home evening, I wonder if you may be feeling overwhelmed with life in general. Or maybe you are feeling really tired and would love to relax, and taking something – anything – off your “to do” list would relieve some stress. Also, I wonder if you enjoy what you are doing for the holiday or if you feel overscheduled. Food for thought.

One thing I’ve done on past holidays that are full of family activities is this: I tell my kids, “We’re going to Grandma’s for dinner and family home evening” and whatever we do there for the holiday celebration “counts” as family home evening. Saying this out loud to the kids helps them know that we’re doing something a little different, but we’re still having family home evening. It seems to give their black and white, “we-should-always-do-family-home-evening” minds the gift of peace of mind.

Besides, we talk so much about gospel topics that if we have an occasional family home evening that has no formal lesson and is just a big family activity, I’m fine with that. Because of our routines and our FHEasy book that makes it so easy to do regular family home evenings, I’m not worried about slipping out of the habit if we do something different on a holiday.

Whatever you do or don’t do for family home evening tonight I hope you generally enjoy …

Happy Home Evenings!

Save

Save


signature