family comes first

had a chat with my mum and brother juz now about how important family is..whenever things go wrong or something bad happened, it is comforting to know that we still have our families to back us up.there r many kinds of theories of what makes a family,whether it's big or small.i've got a friend who told me that she had 10 siblings n every year they will organize a family outing..my brother said his friend had a close relationship with not only his siblings but also with his cousins whom every now and then would juz drop by his house without warning and eat dinners like it was their own house (sometimes my brother surprises me with his matured views on certain issues, even better than his older brother!!)..so, my mum said, she would like us to have that kind of bond with each other and no matter how busy we r with our lives, we must always be there for each other and make time for families to be together..like she said,"dgn adik-beradik jgn berkira"..so, i kinda make a point that:-

• i want my children to be able to go to their aunty n uncles's houses feeling comfortable and vice versa
• i want us to schedule "family time" together every now and then
• instill the importance of family comes first with my children
• make a point to at least acknowledge special occasions like birthdays etc and celebrate together whenever possible