Posted November 11, It is almost Thanksgiving, a day defined by gatherings of family and friends over way too much food and hopefully! And stories. Thanksgiving is traditionally a time when families tell and retell their favorite stories, stories about when the kids were little and put peas up their noses, and stories about when the parents were young and did wild and crazy things, like taking off on a spur-of-the-moment cross-country car trip, or lied to their parents about going to that party after they were forbidden to go.
We all have stories like these. Some are funny, or poignant, or sad. Some ended well and some, perhaps, not so well. Some may be difficult to tell and hear β stories about the world being unsafe and unforgiving. But we tell them, again and again. And β importantly β teenagers want to hear them. Oh, they may roll their eyes and groan, but our research in the Family Narratives Lab shows how closely adolescents are listening to these stories and just how much they matter.
I have blogged a lot about the power of family stories. Adolescents who know stories about their parents and grandparents growing up show better outcomes on so many dimensionsβhigher self-esteem , fewer behavior problems, higher-quality relationships with parents, and more. I am grateful for this publicity because family storytelling is one of the easiest things you can do to create happier families and help adolescents cope with their own difficult transitions into adulthood.
So more specifically, what can you do this Thanksgiving? Here are my 5 tips for Thanksgiving family storytelling:. Tell stories while setting the table and cooking the holiday meal. Stories about the family past come naturally to mind as one is preparing for the upcoming family event. Tell stories that are just plain funny with no other point at all, and stories that might be a bit bittersweet about family no longer with us.
Let your children lead the way β ask them to tell stories they remember, either stories about their own family or stories they have been told about their parents and grandparents.
