In uncertain economic times, there are a lot of great families out there who are out of work and the stress is mounting. I know because my family is one of them. There’s no way to prepare yourself completely for a layoff, and although most parents do their best to protect their children from an atmosphere of gloom or even panic, it’s pretty tough to put on a pleasant front all of the time. Ironically, during times when you need the stress-relief of play the most, your are least likely to take time for it. After all, every moment counts when you are competing for a job interview. Polishing the resume, getting “Linked-in,” and contacting everyone in your network is time-consuming. Who has time to waste? And yet, a few minutes of down-time is critical to everyone’s emotional health.
Children need the reassurance that in spite of tough times, your family will stick together, and can still be happy. That’s an important message to send, and it costs nothing but your time to reassure your children that there is still a lot to smile about. After a long week of attending employment workshops, setting up interviews and surfing the Internet looking for job openings, the last thing we wanted to do with our weekend was sacrifice precious time for playing. And yet, it was clear that everyone in the family needed a day off.
Normally, our weekend outings are planned, but this Saturday, we simply piled into the car and started driving. It would have been wiser to choose a destination in advance, but no one had the energy, so we just headed north to the big city and hoped that by the time we got there, someone would come up with an idea for something fun and economical we could do together. Eventually, we ended up at a horticultural center, and although the sun was already setting, we decided it was a good day to wander and look through the spring tulips and thousands of daffodils that were in bloom. I was surprised at how quickly breathing the hyacinth-scented air loosened that tight spot in the center of my chest.
On the way home, we “splurged” and bought a huge Slurpee from 7-11, along with five straws so everyone could share. Money is not THAT tight, but it was sort of a symbolic gesture of everyone’s willingness to make do with less. Best of all, we had several uninterrupted hours to do nothing but talk to each other, watch the sky darken, and listen to show tunes on the car stereo.
The strongest families exhibit characteristics of adaptability, cohesiveness and resilience, and a job loss is one way to learn whether or not your family has the mettle to pull together. Family recreation is especially important at times like this.
Please feel free to leave comments and contribute your own ideas about what has worked for your family when times were tough.
