Category: Family

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Choosing a Pet: A Family Commitment

The Essential 8

The holidays are a time when many families choose to welcome a new pet. We are all familiar with the pictures of children opening a gift 🎁 on Christmas morning to discover a new puppy 🐶 or kitty 🐱. Here’s an Essential 8 list to navigate this family choice.

1. Do your research parents — discover what breeds are typically good with children. Particularly young children that create noise and chaos in their wake.

2. Ask❔❔friends who have a family pet the challenges they’ve encountered with puppies, kitties, hamsters, reptiles, etc. Their experience will help you to know both the joys and pitfalls with such a commitment.

3. Although it’s tempting to make the gift 🎁 of a pet a surprise for your children, you might want to go the route of a family discussion which includes the different responsibilities that comes with different pets and who within the family wants to take responsibility of these different aspects.

4. Back to research, make sure you look into what pets and/or breeds do better with a companion. If your family is busy like most families are, making sure your pet has a buddy can make their life more calm and less anxious.

5. Once a decision is made about what type of pet your family wants to welcome, contact a local veterinarian (friends with pets can also help here with recommendations) to find out the type of care your pet will need. This is particularly useful so you aren’t surprised with the financial cost of welcoming a pet into your family.

6. Create a chart with the arrival of your pet that addresses your pet’s needs such as feeding, watering, buying supplies, veterinary visits, walking if a dog is your choice, letting pets outside (this particular task will be needed more often with a young dog), cage or litter box cleaning, treats appropriate for your pet (be aware some “people” food is not good for various pets), and play time. Assign family members for the different needs. This is a great way to encourage responsibility whether your children are younger or older.

7. Look at animal shelters, particularly if you are considering a dog or cat. There are many animals in need of adopting. Sometimes shelters do not have the breed you desire, going to a breeder is a good choice if that’s the case. If you do choose the breeder route, once again research and recommendations are important in order to work with a reputable and caring breeder.

8. Enjoy your new family member. And remember new pets are learning and so are you , “naughty” behavior should be taken in stride.

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Volunteering as a Family

The ESSENTIAL 8

In the hustle and bustle of busy days sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in our own little life bubble. However, one of the best values that we can teach our children is how to be charitable. Many times people think charity only involves the giving of financial resources. The great thing is we can teach our children that being charitable can also mean giving of our time and our talents. Here’s my ESSENTIAL 8 to help your family build their volunteer time.

1. Brainstorm🧠 with your family. Make a list 🗒of charities each family member has heard about … resources you can use include opportunities learned about at school, church, on the news or social media. If a family member isn’t familiar with any charities, brainstorm things that family member likes and discuss charitable opportunities that match up with that interest. For example, maybe one of your children likes animals. An internet search can reveal animal organizations in your area that need volunteers. Don’t limit your list at this point, brainstorming is about accepting all ideas.

2. After brainstorming, use the internet to learn more information about the charities your family has listed. Discover where these charities are located, what role they play in the community, and what volunteer opportunities they offer — perhaps the organization needs collection of supplies versus manpower on site. Make sure you find out how to get in contact with these organizations.

3. At this point, your family is going to want to start narrowing your list. Of the organizations you have researched, which ones offer volunteer opportunities that are feasible for your family. Take into consideration your children’s ages and abilities. Also consider the dates and times that the organizations need volunteers or supplies, as well as, the organizations, requirements for volunteers. When creating your final list, make sure that every family member has a volunteer opportunity represented.

4. By choosing several volunteer opportunities that speak to different family members’ interests, you have the opportunity to broaden everyone’s knowledge and perspective. Perhaps one family member really enjoys working with his/her hands🖐🏼. Even though that’s not something that others would have chosen, by volunteering with an organization like Habitat for Humanity 🔨 everyone in the family can learn a new skill, as well as, what this organization does for the community and why it’s necessary. Also consider charitable work for neighbors or family and friends when making your final decisions. Your time and work need not be with a formal organization.

5. Contact the charitable organizations that your family would like to work with directly (phone calls ☎️ typically work the best) and ask what opportunities are available. Not every volunteer opportunity needs to be done in quick succession. Take a look at the charities your family would like to work with and discover when volunteer times could be scheduled. Factors like weather, the time of year, and your families availability will affect when volunteering can take place.

6. Mark it on your calendar! If your family has older children and teenagers make sure that every family member knows the time and date of your volunteer opportunity. Emphasize to older children and teenagers that a commitment has been made to volunteer and other activities should not be scheduled at that time.

7. Prepare for your volunteer opportunity. If there is anything that you need to do ahead of time such as purchasing special clothing or tools for your volunteer opportunity, make sure those tasks are completed. You can split these tasks between family members or assign one person in the family to complete the prep work. An example of prep work might be purchasing disposable gloves if your family has volunteered to do trash cleanup.

8. Make volunteering a year round activity. Each year, look at the steps above and review them. Some volunteer opportunities your family may want to do year after year. Other opportunities may change as your family grows and develops.

Remember helping may require time working for a charity or time collecting or making items a charity could use.

Volunteering can open up a new world to everyone in your family. It can be an incredible learning opportunity, as well as, an conduit to share your time and talents with those in need.