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A few months ago as part of The Mom Conference I listened to a session about creating a “family live list.” It inspired me! I’m always looking for ways to be a better mom…and this was a great idea to create more family unity and maybe start a new family tradition!
I wasn’t ready to do it at the time (we were in the middle of soccer season…who has time for anything with 5 kids on 5 teams!) But, I had been thinking about it ever since and I decided the time was right.
What is a Family Live List?
To me, a live list differs from a bucket list in the way you think about the items on the list (although some things might go on both kinds of lists.) A family live list is about what you can do to make your family stronger and make the world a better place to live. It’s about how to become better together.
How did we do this?
I gathered everyone around and talked about what a live list was. Then, we brainstormed. I wrote down everyone’s ideas…even those I knew wouldn’t make the cut! We ended up with 3 pages of ideas that I taped to the wall. I explained we needed to pick 10 (I think some were disappointed that we weren’t going to do all of them!) We discussed our ideas and whittled the list down…and don’t think this was a quiet activity! (I had a headache at the end because of the noise level!)
We ended up with a list that I think everyone is going to have a lot of fun with. There is something for everyone…but not everyone wants to do everything on the list. And that’s ok…it’s teaching my kids how to think of others and how to compromise.
Where do we go from here?
Now, I can’t say that we accomplished my lofty goals of planning some grand service project..but I don’t plan on this being a one time activity. My plan is to do this seasonally…so I will have more chances to help my family understand that we can be intentional with our fun activities and help others while we work together.
I love ideas like this live list that help create a strong family identity and build family tradition
Make it Happen!
- Schedule a time (really…mark it on the calendar!) to get your family together and talk about things you want to do to create a better family and community. Don’t go overboard and decide to do everything…just pick a few (you can always create another list in a few months!
Share Your Ideas!
- What is something fun you have done with your family in the past few months?