LIFE

 

Whether it’s what to eat out, where to go on vacation or what movie to watch for family night, making decisions as a fam is *never* easy. To make things easier (and to stop arguing about who gets to choose your Friday night takeout), follow these tips below.

1. Take turns to pick.
This works more often than you'd think, even if it may seem irritating. Sometimes you just have to take turns, especially if everyone wants uniquely different things. Maybe you can even learn something from the experience. If your brother has an obsession with burritos and insists on eating them whenever it is his turn, give him his time in the spotlight (ugh), and try to understand why he likes them so much. 

2. Make the most of whatever you have to do.
You only have a childhood once, and you might be surprised to find that you miss those family events and trips that you despised so much when you were younger. If you don’t like burritos and you won’t eat them unless you have to, enjoy eating them while you can. Family time is something that you probably have a lot of when you’re younger and less when you’re older, so try to see the bright side and make the most of the experiences, even if roller skating totally isn’t something you like doing or plan to do on your own. 

3. Compromise.
It’s not fun giving in to someone else, especially your younger siblings, but sometimes you have to in order to keep the peace. Also, learning to work together with other people is an important skill for the future and for life. There are times when compromising is the only way to give everyone in the family their turn, respect their input and have a semi-pleasurable time for everyone.

4. Let everyone speak their opinions.
Family meetings can be the worse, especially if you have a big family where everyone has different opinions and likes. If you find that family meetings consist of everyone yelling at once and screaming their beliefs, try passing around a ball and having only the person with the ball talk. It may sound ridiculous and like something that you did in kindergarten, but you could be surprised to find that it actually works. By having a token that you hold in order to talk, people are more inclined to wait their turn for the object.

5. Try something new.
If everyone is set on where they want to eat for dinner, try out a new cuisine or restaurant. You may be surprised to find that your family bonds over Burmese food and takes a new liking to the cuisine. In order to keep the whole family happy, try out a new activity so that way nobody has a strong opinion about it. Also, it’s really fun to try new things, especially with your family, the people that know you the best!

What does your family disagree on? How do you come to a consensus? Tell us in the comments below!

by Amrita Bhasin | 8/22/2017