Family Day Fun – 5 Ways To Make Your Day Special
February 4th, 2016
It’s here again, the fourth Family Day happens on February 8th – it’s the only statutory day we get off between New Year’s Day and Good Friday, so let’s make the best of it.
Did you know that it’s only a provincial statutory holiday? Federal government workers have to work – that sucks! And, not every province celebrates it – only B.C. Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario. So, we’re pretty lucky eh?
This year my wife and I are heading off to Whistler to visit our son and two of our grandkids for the weekend. We’ll brave the ferries – I’ve made reservations – so no two-sailing waits for us – and treat it as a mini-vacation.
It got me thinking about how to make Family Day a little special – I know already that we’ll go for walks in the snow, wander Whistler village, play board games in the evening and enjoy some great meals, but how else can we make it special? Here are five things that you might want to try.
Hike a mountain, or hill, or lake, or trail – not just any one, but one that by the end you feel you’ve accomplished something. How many weekends do you look back on and wonder what the devil did I achieve? Don’t let that happen this Family Day weekend – do something that pushes you, something you can look back on and feel proud of!- Take the family (and extended family) to a beach – either by the ocean, or lakeshore; wrap up warm, light a fire (where allowed) and have a winter picnic. Toast marshmallows, build a fort, grab a stick and a ball and play baseball, have races, skim stones – it doesn’t matter just enjoy being together.
- Create a special family meal – okay it’s not Thanksgiving, but what could you make that’s a little different? Something perhaps everyone can contribute to such as a pot luck? Perhaps it’s barbecuing a salmon outside, or making homemade pizza from scratch. It doesn’t matter what, just so long as it becomes an event.
- When dinner’s over, don’t turn on the television, sit down and play a board game, or better still ask the older members of the family to tell stories of what family life was like when they were young. What did they eat? Did they vacation, if so where? Did they play games? Where did they live? What was on television back then – did they even have television? What was school like? You will be surprised at how fascinated children are by these stories. I remember one such occasion where a younger member of the family was shocked to learn that a vinyl record could be played on both sides! He couldn’t believe such a thing could exist!
Start a Family Day Family Tradition – let everyone put forward ideas and then vote as a family what the tradition will be. Perhaps it’ll be that you always have a game night, or a huge family gathering where everyone sings or performs in some way. Perhaps it incorporates one of the other four ideas above. Traditions are wonderful things, they create memories; they are things to look forward to and can be handed down generation after generation. Start a tradition this Family Day!
So, make this Family Day something special. Invite family from far and wide to celebrate being together and make it an annual event that everyone looks forward to every year.
If you have relatives coming from out of town and you’ve nowhere to accommodate them, look no further than your local Accent Inns. Accents Inns (including Hotel Zed) is family owned and the Farmer family believe wholeheartedly in family values. They treat their employees and guests as one big extended family, so have no fear, they’ll look after Grandma and Grandpa, or Auntie Freda and Uncle Alex for you as if they were their own!
Mike Wicks
Blue Beetle Creative