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family time

via alexxx1915/TikTok

A family having fun together in the living room.

TikTok user alexxx1915 recently posted a short video with the caption: "I just learned the term 'living room family' and I never understood why my kids never played in their rooms when I always did as a kid." She briefly shows her kids hanging out in the living room with their pet dog and some toys scattered around the floor, before panning to her own face and giving a sort of sentimental look. The simple, ten-second clip struck a huge nerve with parents, racking up over 25 million views and thousands of heartfelt comments.


@alexxx1915

#livingroomfamily #fypシ

What are "living room families" and "bedroom families"?

This idea has been going around for a while on social media.

Simply put, a living room family is a family that congregates in the living room, or any common space in the household. Kids play in the same space where the adults relax — and things are often messy, as a result. Everyone interacts with each other and spends lots of time together. Bedrooms are reserved mostly for sleeping and dressing.

A bedroom family, on the other hand, is where the kids spend more time in their rooms. They play there, watch TV, and maybe even eat meals. Typically, the main rooms of the house are kept neat and tidy — you won't find a lot of toys scattered about — and family time spent together is more structured and planned ahead rather than casual.


"Living room families" has become the latest aspirational term on TikTok. Everyone wants to be a living room family!

The implication of being a bedroom family, or having 'room kids', is that perhaps they don't feel safe or comfortable or even allowed to take up room in the rest of the house, or to be around the adults. "I remember my brother coming round once and he just sat in silence while watching my kids play in the living room. After a while he looked at me and said 'It's so nice that your kids want to be around you'" one commenter said on alexxx1915's video.

"I thought my kids hated their rooms 🥺 turns out they like me more" said another. "You broke a generational curse. Good job mama!" said yet another.

There's so much that's great about having a family that lives out in the open — especially if you were raised feeling like you had to hide in your room.

In my household, we're definitely a living room family. We're around each other constantly, and the house is often a mess because of it. Learning about this term makes me feel a little better that my kids want to be around us and feel comfortable enough to get their 'play mess' all over the living room.

The mess is a sign of the love and comfort we all share together.

But the big twist is that it's also perfectly fine if your kids — and you! — like a little more solitary time.

kid, bedroom, alone time, solitary child, toys, kids rugA boy playing with toys on the floor.Gavyn Alejandro/Unsplash

Being a 'bedroom family' is actually perfectly OK.

There's a similar discourse that took place last year about living room parents vs bedroom parents. The general consensus seemed to be that it was better to be a living room parent, who relaxed out in the open versus taking alone time behind closed doors.

But it really doesn't have to be one or the other, and neither is necessarily better. Making your kids feel relegated to their room is, obviously, not great. It's not a good thing if they feel like they're not allowed to exist in and play in the rest of the house. But if they just like hanging out in their room? Nothing wrong with that at all! And same goes for parents.

Alone time is important for parents and kids alike, and everyone needs different amounts of it to thrive. Kids with certain special needs, like being on the autism spectrum, may be absolutely thrilled to spend lots of time in their rooms, for example.

In 2023, there was a similar debate on TikTok where parents sounded off on whether they were bedroom parents or living room parents. In this situation, the parents spent the majority of the time in their bedroom, while the kids were in the living room, or they spend time in the living room with their kids. According to Marissa Kile, the video's creator, this made the parents' bedroom feel like a "scared space" where the kids didn't feel comfortable.


@maroo927

I DONT hang out in my room.. its just a sleeping zone. Anyone else? #sleepzone #donthangout #herdofkids #fyp #sahm #foryoupage #missouri #

This article originally appeared last year.

Brent Kruithof is the kind of dude who loves working out, but his job as a CPA wouldn't allow him to do it very often.

During his busy seasons, Kruithof could barely find time to sneak in a quick trip to the gym, so you can imagine how hard it was for him to find quality time with his wife, Katie, and their two young sons, Giorgio and Decker.


Photo from Brent Kruithof, used with permission.

The issue was time.

He was spending too much time away from his family due to the demands of his day job, and he wasn't about to sacrifice precious family moments to work out at the gym no matter how badly he wanted to.

Something needed to be done.

His answer? Incorporate his kids into his workout routine.

And the results were adorable.

It included working out while his baby giggled.

All GIFs from Flyup Fitness and used with permission.

And getting some father-son ab work in.

Baby-wearing? Yep, he does that, too.

And finally ... watching his son navigate through the "daddy bridge" in style.

He even managed to come up with a whole home workout company called Flyup Fitness designed for parents who didn't want to spend their free time away from the kids.

Once Kruithof shared his family workout video on Facebook, it went viral, and his company soared to the next level.

"In one week, our sales numbers were equal to our sales over the previous six months," he said. "It's great to have a positive impact on families all over the world."

And it's all because Kruithof demonstrated how fun it can be to workout while spending time at home with the people you love most.

Now Kruithof spends more time with his sons than ever before. And, oh yeah, he's in the best shape of his life.

All it took was a little creative time management to get there.

"Family is the most important thing to me," he said. "I hope my kids will use my journey as an example that they matter to me more than anything else."

Sure, not everyone enjoys working out — but no matter what your thing is, there usually is a way to bond with the kids while you're at it.

Either way, it's always nice to see a dad whose biggest muscle is his heart.

Check out Kruithof and his kids in action in this adorable video: