Do you ever feel like your family members are “ships that pass in the night”? I know I have. The tides of our society push us toward disconnection. They pull each person in different directions, different activities, different friends…disconnecting us from one another. Even when we sit in the same room, we find ourselves engulfed by our personal devices as we scroll our different interests on social media, never even looking up to see the other people in the room. There is a way to fight against this tide of disconnection: develop rituals of connection. Here are four wonderful rituals that can help your family experience the joy and strength of family connection.

• Eat one meal together each day. Studies reveal that teens who eat at least five meals a week together with their family show significantly less drug and alcohol abuse as well as exhibiting many other benefits. Eating meals as a family also provides an excellent way to connect on a regular basis and fight the tides of disconnection.
• Spend 15 minutes talking at bedtime. Turn off the TVs. Quit playing video games. Stop scrolling. Put your phone in another room. Sit down with your family and talk for 15 minutes. Tell one another about your day, the joys and the struggles. Take time to recall the day’s experiences for which you are grateful. Tell some jokes. Talk about your plans for tomorrow and your dreams for the future. Share your concerns and worries about tomorrow so your family can support you in those areas. In the process, you’ll find your family connection growing stronger.
• Develop a daily parting ritual. Before you leave for the day, let your family know about your plans for the day and listen to their plans for the day. Then, share a “hug good-bye” before you go your separate ways. This simple show of interest and affection will do wonders in creating a greater sense of connection to one another.
• Enjoy a weekly family night/date night. Set aside one evening a week to engage in a fun family activity. You might enjoy a simple walk through a park, a night out for pizza, a game night, or a game of frisbee. What you choose to do is only limited by your family’s interests and creativity. The important thing is to spend one evening engaging one another each week, one night connecting in a playful, fun way.

Put these simple rituals into action for the next month and enjoy the benefits of a growing sense of connection in your family.