MYJ - Strengthening Family Relationships

Activities:View stories from p 86-91 - ‘You and Your Family’

articleDiscuss key pointsList the guidelines for getting along with your

parents (p 92/93)Answer questions on p 94Students to make a journal entry regarding trust

that includes: a reason why trust is important between family members; two things they have done in the last few weeks that might help build their parents’ trust; two actions they can take to continue building trust with the adults in their family

NB: Ask students to bring in a favourite family recipe for next weeks lesson

THE QUOTES

THE QUOTES 2

Copy this into yourMyJ book

youand your familyHave you ever been in a helicopter? It's fun slow enough to pick up detailsyou might miss from a fast plane, and high enough to see things you can't seefrom the ground.This chapter will be a helicopter ride over your family. It will help youunderstand your family better and see things you might have missed before. Itmay even help them understand you! The chapter describes some basic ideasthat have made lots of families happier together.

You

Who s Supposed to do theHousework?Not many people think housework is great fun. Still, most of us have to do itsometimes. By "housework," I mean everything from cooking and doing thedishes to washing clothes and sweeping. These things need to be done tokeep home comfortable and running smoothly.

Anna and Robert, like most teenagers, think housework is a realpain. Since their parents divorced last year, they've been living withtheir mother. Before the divorce, their mother was at home all thetime. Even Anna and Robert would admit they didn't help muchwith the housework.Now their mother works during the day and sometimes in theevening. There's nothing she dislikes more than coming home to amessy living room and a kitchen piled with dirty dishes. And there'snothing Anna and Robert dislike more than doing housework."She's always after us," Anna told me. Her brother agreed. "The way shegoes on," he said, "you'd think that all we're supposed to do is work,work, work! We don't mind if the house is a little messy. It's our house,too."

Who do you think is right? The kids, who don't like to clean the house? Or themother, who doesn't want to come home to a mess? How do you think thefamily could solve this problem?

Telephone RulesWho gets to use the telephone can be a problem in some homes, but here's one familythat handles it well.

Carl and I were busy talking in their livingroom when his 12-year-old daughter came in."Dad, I've got to make a telephone call. Thisone will take a while. Do you have anyimportant calls coming in?" After her fatherhad said OK, she thanked him anddisappeared.I thought that was something special, so I said,"That worked out well."Carl answered, "Thanks, but actually it's allpart of our deal. The telephone used tobother us. So we talked about it and decidedon a few rules. Everyone had a say. Onething we agreed was that we'd check witheach other before making a long call."

Which of these rules would you like to use in your family straight away? Some of them mayneed to be adapted to fit your family's way of doing things, but the principles behind therules— listening, being respectful, and caring about others—are sure to be helpful. It's nevertoo late to start. Choosing to get along better with your family is one of the most importantdecisions you'll ever make. Good luck!