Long Distance Family
“Family” is a word for affection. A family means the world to a person’s life. It is a core learning center point for a child. Family teaches respect, love, humility, responsibility, and spirituality. You can find unconditional love here.
Many of us do not live with our families for study, work, and business purposes. This is very regretful and sad. Even if we want to make it up, we may not be able to overcome the distance. This makes our life even harder as many of us may not bear. There must be some easy way to solve that. Don’t you think?
A few simple practices can resolve this problem and reduce heartache. Let’s see how you can be able to manage long-distance family relations by following simple tips.
What is a Long-Distance Family?
A long-distance family is a family that is separated by a large distance, often located in completely different geographical areas. This causes families to be detached from each other for quite some time. The geographical distance and time frame between two families or members of a family is the identifying part of a long-distance family relationship. A long-distance family bond can be defined in various ways, and experiences may be sad and hard to bear.
To solve this issue and cut the distance, you need to be much more focused on building up a few habits by practicing them daily. These habits are common in our regular lifestyle. But when it comes to family, it might get be difficult to maintain. So, let’s dive into that.
Maintain Daily Routine
When you are about to develop a habit of something, you need to maintain a daily routine for that. Nothing is hard if you do that every day consistently. The same works with getting connected with your folks and loving persons from miles away.
To have that established, you need to maintain a daily routine. This makes a habit of being used to communicating with our family and you will not miss it even after a rough day. Making a habit of contacting them regularly actually means how much you care about them. This gives any person to rely on you with trust and love.
Most European and US citizens are suffering from this. Your family member can be one of them. So, do not hesitate to call or text and ask how they are going through. By doing this, you can be connected with your family and take care of them as well as yourself. This habit is an advantage of long-distance family relationships.
For your kind information, there are some standard options to help you adopt and make a habit. These options are specified for those who live in countries away from their family.
- Everyday basis (Before work hours or after work hours)
- Weekend plans (You can plan both weekends)
- Special occasions (When the holiday is worldwide)
- Make a family gathering (Same day every month)
Advantage of Technology
The distance from country to country is not a big issue to worry about in the 21st century. We can see the world with our bare hands. The technology is so advanced that not only through voice communication or sending written letters, you can literally visit your family in real-time from miles away.
There are a few famous electronic applications that are used worldwide. Also, some ways to make it simple and easy. Let’s see what those are.
Group Chat
The simplest way to gather and connect with your family members is to make a group chat. There are lots of social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, and many more. Using the advantage of these social media for the family group is pretty amazing.
Also, there are a few dedicated applications only for families you can find on the internet. You can add photos and birthdays to celebrate. You can also add new members to that group as they can get to know everyone by name, face, and relations. Add get-together planning on the app’s calendar which will give a reminder to all the family members. So, use your creativity to get your family one step closer. Using the apps mentioned above, you can also do video calls so you can talk to the person in real-time.
Many people think that emails are for old people or maybe old-fashioned. But, trust me, these emails have great use that you might never have thought of. There is a lot of electronic mailing system you can find on the internet. They are Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, and so on. Most of these mailing services have different themes and patterns for specific categories.
Email writing is easy and convenient nowadays. For a family member, you can write a simple letter by addressing that person. Or, you can also write an announcement or mark it well with an important notice and send it to all the family members as cc (carbon copy) or bcc (blind carbon copy). It is a polite way to address everyone across countries.
Use social media groups
Like group chat, you can use social media platforms to create a family group. In this group, you can add your family members like dad, mom, brothers, and sisters. You can also add your long-distance relative to stay connected.
Post pictures, birthday party videos, and funny moments to share with everyone. Imagine, you are living in L. A and your family lives in New York or somewhere far away, then with the help of a family group, you can actually be a part of your family and never miss a family event. Even if you do, you can have the moment through the group photos and videos posted on that group.
Play online games
Now, a lot of the young generation, even from the 90s, know about online gaming platforms. In these online games, you can talk to your teammates in real-time. Isn’t this awesome?
You might have brothers or sisters or nephews who are kind of habituated to these games and play for hours. Be a teammate in that game and have a lovely conversation. Even these platform is much more stable than most social media and other communication methods. This way is more convenient as you can play the game and talk to your family simultaneously.
Plan for “Get-Together”
Texting messages and calling over the internet audio or video is not enough for being a family member. If you really love and care for your family, you must visit them in person. However, this might be a bit hard for those who live really far away. But planning to visit family once or twice a year is logical. There are a few things that you need to maintain family bonding.
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Visit on special occasions
Visiting your family on occasion is very crucial. If you do not do this even for a single day, will affect your priorities and personality. Your little brother or sister will get sad if you do not show up on Christmas or family reunion days. So, do not miss any special occasions.
Giving gifts
Visiting on special occasions is not enough. You have to bring gifts with you. For your dad, mom, and other members like brother and sister. This way you bring happiness to their life.
Be Attentive and Effectively
You have to show your urge for your family. Be affectionate when you see them. Do not be just someone who is giving attendance like “yes sir”. Make your family proud and happy when you are around them.
Old-School Letters
Another way of communicating in a long-distance family relationship is by sending handwritten letters. This method is very rare and old-fashioned, but effective. This can be a way of showing your dad and mom how much you love and respect them.
They might have hard a time using emails and social media. But, the moment they have your letter on hand, they will understand that even writing on paper is pretty unusual for you but still, you did that. The tears will come out before opening the letter.
FAQs
- Does distance affect family relationships?
Living separately can create stress and weaken relations among family members. However, some strategies can reinforce family bonds. You can connect across the miles by maintaining meaningful communication, making a commitment to each other daily basis, and incorporating creative tactics. - Can a long-distance relationship work with kids?
The same technological improvements that allowed you and your long-distance partner to successfully remain together, can likewise work to stay close to your children. Video calling, social media, and even travel in general have all made it easier for families to stay in touch and share thoughts. - Can long-distance parenting work?
The paper and study above confirm that simply having a long-distance parent does not harmfully affect a child. Many things go into a child’s success, and having a long-distance parent is not a deal-breaking condition. This is a great scientific benchmark for long-distance parenting. - Why is long-distance so hard?
It’s hard as it’s meant to be. Straight-forward communication to properly work on any relationships and this can often be difficult to manage over the phone. It can also be hard to establish boundaries and the right amount of communication if you are long-distance for the first time. - Can marriages survive long distances?
First, be comfortable in knowing that long-distance relationships can absolutely succeed. In fact, most couples find themselves physically separated at some point during their dating or marriage relationship. Many couples even point to a season of long distance as the foundation of a stronger relationship.
Final Thoughts
Many people think it is hard to stay connected with family as they are living abroad or long distance. Following these methods of communication will make this easy in the above discussion. There are a lot of other methods you may find out if you truly love to spend time with your family. Remember, nothing is impossible when it comes to family.
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Andrew C. Smith, an expert in couples and family psychology, brings years of experience in enhancing family dynamics and parent-child relationships. With a private practice background, Andrew is now a valued writer at Merge Family, sharing insights on communication and more
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