Jackson Free Press

It's a new year, and many people are resolving to lose weight, exercise more and spend more time on hobbies. For 2012, one nonprofit is encouraging families to resolve to spend more time together.

Youth Villages is a nonprofit organization that provides services for children with emotional and behavioral problems and their families. In Mississippi, Youth Villages has programs to provide in-home therapy, provide foster care and help young adults successfully transition out of the foster-care system.

The organization's family experts say parents can improve their family life by scheduling quality time together.

"It's all about making family time a priority and treating it as such--a commitment you need to keep, regardless of what else is going on," Amy Adams, assistant director of programs with Youth Villages Mississippi, said in a statement.

Youth Villages offers 10 resolutions for stressed-out families to spend more quality time together:

1. Eat together every week. Studies show that children who participate in regular family meals are less likely to engage in risky behavior. Sharing meals is a great way to have positive conversation, enjoy one another's company and bond as a family.

2. Find a new fun family activity or hobby. Sit down and talk. There has to be some family activity everyone can do together. For some families, game nights work well, and interactive video games that make you get up and move around the living room give kids and parents a chance to burn a few calories as well. An easy, cost-free and purposeful way to fulfill this resolution is to do family volunteer work.

3. Read together. Take turns reading out loud, listen to a book on tape or have everyone read his or her own book or magazine.

4. Develop some new family rituals. Make homemade pizza on Friday night, watch a movie together on Saturday or take an afternoon walk with the family dog on Sunday. Children thrive on rituals, and family traditions are wonderful memories to look back on.

5. Try making everyday activities fun. Make a game or contest out of chores, give out stickers as rewards or sing a song together while tidying up.

6. Set a couple of hours aside for each child to spend time with each parent. Use this time to do something special spend and some quality one-on-one time together.

7. Walk it out. Go for a family walk around the neighborhood or at the park. Return home and eat cookies together at the dinner table.

8. Be positive. Once a week, use dinner time to have every family member say one positive thing about each other family member. Saying something nice teaches children to give and accept compliments and can dissolve hostile environments to create more harmonious relationships.

9. Make New Year's resolutions together as a family. Have each family member make a resolution for himself or herself, and encourage children to help come up with a resolution for the entire family. Write all the resolutions down, and review them at the end of the year.

10. Be more active together. Spend a few hours every month doing an outdoor activity together. Stroll through a park, play soccer or basketball in the yard, drive to a lake or beach to go swimming, take a family bike ride or find interesting places to go for a walk. If the weather doesn't always permit outdoor activities, get a family gym membership, and take everyone along for workouts.