We’ve got spirit. Yes, we do!

I was telling another mom about our family’s togetherness rituals and she about died laughing. Later I got an e-mail from her friend asking advice on how to create her own for her family. Well, maybe the world needs more hilarious bonding exercises, so here are a few of our favorites to help get you started (or just to amuse you).

We have a family fight song, and I use the term “fight song” very loosely. It goes a little something like this…”Hey, _____! You’re not alone! Hey, ____! You’re not alone! You’ve got a big family. That’s why you’ve gotta’ see, you’re never gonna’ be ever aloooooooone!” We sing this when someone is acting grumpy. Usually, if it’s a tot, they cross their arms and look even more grumpy for a few seconds or maybe even yell, “NO!” But before long they crack a smile and sing along. We usually go around and put each person’s name in the blank before we’re all done.

Then, of course, there’s the family cheer. Dorky, I know. But the kids love it. We all put our hands in the pile and chant, “Together…Forever…Gooooooooo Family!” flinging our hands up upon “Family!” Not so long ago we introduced a tambourine to the cheer and we stack our hands on top of it and during the very long “Goooooo” we shake it like crazy. It’s a hoot and a fun way to end our day. It usually falls somewhere between tooth brushing and story time.

And finally, my favorite. Hannah Jane said the only thing she would miss about going to “real school” was having a school shirt. So now we have a family crest that we spent forever voting on and designing so that Hanna Jane could have that school shirt after all. First we came up with a mascot. We decided that in order to reflect our family, it must be a pack animal since we are always together and soething funny since we ae a group of crack-ups. We tossed it around a while and eventually settled on a Hyena. I don’t actually know if they travel in packs, but they do in Lion King and that was good enough for my crew. Then we selected colors and details. Once we had agreed upon what was to be included, I set to work making it happen using free images from the internet. I think it looks pretty good. Now we have it on our homeschool ID cards, on t-shirts, and every now and then we even put it on stationary. How official the kids feel when thy get to send a note to a friend on “school stationary!”

Christison Home Academy og the Arts and Sciences

Yeah. I know it’s nuts. But that’s just who we are. We never claimed to be rational. So we’ve got spirit, how bout you?