How to strengthen the family

On Saturday night, I attended the General Women's Meeting of General Conference. There was a very strong theme of family, particularly in Sister Bonnie Oscarson's talk about defending the family and the Family Proclamation.

As I thought about it later, I felt like there were more ways to strengthen and defend families than what may have been mentioned. Furthermore, the next day when I went visiting teaching, it hit me that outside my middle class culture, the family really truly is under attack. (Also, this.)

So, here are some ideas I had for how to strengthen and defend the family.

• Stay close to God through prayer and scripture study. And if you have a family, pray and read scriptures with them.
• Keep in contact with your family, and don't just call parents/siblings/whoever when you need money.
• Create jobs suitable for teenagers so they develop work ethics and become more desirable spouses. You probably shouldn't have to pay them $15 an hour.
• Treat your employees right.
• Do your home and visiting teaching.
• Be selective about the media you allow into your house. Don't substitute TV for quality time, especially if the TV shows are violent or sexual.
• Fill your children's lives with kind words and lots of hugs so they don't look elsewhere for acceptance.
• Don't kick your child out of the house as a teenager if they happen to be gay. That won't fix anything.
• If you want to help strengthen families beyond your immediate reach, consider donating to organizations that help keep people healthy and well-fed and employable. Fistula Foundation is good. So is Kiva. So are lots of things.
• Do your family history, even if you are sort of mad at your ancestors or the aunt who happens to know a lot about it. (This isn't my case, but it happens.) I am amazed sometimes at how much of my identity I get from knowing about my ancestors, and how much more patient I am with myself, my parents, and so on because I know these stories, good and bad.
• Make homemaking a more gratifying experience. This may sound silly, but I get a lot of joy out of cooking in part because I know Kevin is willing to like what I cook. And, conversely, try to cook foods people will like.
• Serve in the community with your family. This not only helps the community but teaches your kids that you are a family that serves. And that, my friends, is a very powerful family culture to develop.
• Don't always seek friends exactly like you, no matter your age. If you feel like you have a healthy family, reach out to others who may not.
• Pay attention to kids in your community and look for signs of neglect. (FYI, them walking home from the playground alone at the age of 10 is not what I would call a sign of neglect, unless it was cold and they didn't have a coat.)
• Treat your spouse kindly and respectfully.

Any other ideas? There were lots of things I didn't even touch on.