Original photo credit: adwriter via Flickr
Relationships don’t have to be complicated.
And yet we make them so.
Children want to know that you love them.
Parents want to know that their children love them back.
What better way to demonstrate your love than by being together. I’m talking casual, easygoing connections. The kind that leave your heart bursting with joy and gratitude.
What better way to do any of that than simple, old-fashioned family time. This is about seeing the ordinary as extraordinary.
That’s what this project is about, you know. Staying awake to what matters most in a human being’s life. Loving and being loved. Embracing family. Restoring faith in humanity. Remembering to give your whole heart and your whole mind to the ones we love most — before it all disappears, whoosh!
To make this kind of impact in a lifetime is a special gift, but it takes practice. Some parents never, ever grasp this concept of showing their love.
Let this not be your fate. Let this not be your child’s fate.
Grab them by their face — big or small — and show them that your eyes are so full of love. Give every bit of your heart today to your child and you will not regret it. The only regret may be that you held back, that you let that special love pale in comparison to other people, places and things.
I asked my village of friends around the world, again, to give me their favorite, ordinary moments as a family. Their words are wise. This is not about traveling to Disney World or Paris. It’s not about spending a ton of money or throwing amazing parties. Their advice is simple: The best moments are when we’re together because simple traditions and rituals are powerful. Those moments are what make make for the best childhood memories. Please add your own ideas in the comments.
10 Easy Ways to Connect as a Family:
READ
“My oldest daughter (age 5) and I love to read chapter books together. At the end of the day, we’ll snuggle together on my bed and read a chapter or two. I love sharing some of the books with her that I loved as a child,” said Terri from Creative Family Fun.
Julie at Creekside Learning said she loves reading to her kids. “I love making different character voices and putting emotion into my voice based on what is going on in the story. I love how captivated my kids are when they are being read to and that books are such a big part of their everyday life.”
Photo Credit: Gracie and Viv via Flickr
SNUGGLE
Snuggling was actually one of the big themes that came up for this post. Krissy at B-Inspired Mama said her family “loves snuggling up on the couch for family movie night. We get pizza and a movie from the Redbox. It doesn’t cost very much but seems so special to the kids.”
“Snuggling in bed with my daughter before she sleeps and talking about our favorite parts of our day,” said Rebekah Patel at The Golden Gleam.
“I’ve often told my husband that when I think of a truly warm and happy moment, it is the moment that I wake up and see that both of my kids have crawled into bed with us. Once we are all awake and cuddling as a family before we start the day…if I ever have to to my inner happy place now or when I’m older- that’s the memory and feeling I’ll invoke.” Tricia of Critters and Crayons.
GO OUTSIDE
MaryAnne at Mama Smiles loves spending time outside with her kids. “I love watching them explore, find an ordinary rock that they find extraordinarily beautiful, and the joy they see in discovering the ‘perfect’ stick!”
“All of us piling in the hammock—a tangle of children’s feet, arms, and legs in all different sizes—and we tell stories,” said Heather at Word Play House.
TAKE WALKS
“We love going for a walk or heading to the local park! In the summer the kids and I enjoy even just walking around outside the house looking at the plants & gardens to see how they are growing and changing and looking for butterflies. A current favorite at our house is a basketball game in the driveway… I think they like it best because Dad plays :).” Jennifer from Plain Vanilla Mom
“Our family loves walks. We enjoy exploring the neighborhood, the park, a trail, or the woods. Spending time together outside, talking, listening, and taking in nature. It’s the best.” Trisha from Inspiration Laboratories.
Photo Credit: Skyseeker via Flickr
CONNECT
“In this warm weather we love to sit on the old couch on our back balcony in the evenings and watch the sky get dark and the moon get brighter and brighter, watch the birds fly off to their trees for the night, and watch the bats come out. We have an ongoing competition to see who spots the first star, and the second, and so on,” said Jane from Mama Pea Pod.
Katherine of Creative Play House said she loves her family’s snuggles before bed. “Chatting about the day. Just playing; tickles, rolling around, being silly together. I also love cooking dinner while Jake sits on the counter helping, learning how to peel veggies, talking about food and anything else he wants, and watching everything I’m doing.”
Photo Courtesy of Gina at famiglia&seoul
PLAY
Gina at Famiglia&seoul has found connecting with extended family and old-fashioned play to be a very meaningful connection for her family. “I really want my son to get to know his grandparents and great grandparents. A couple of weeks ago, I asked them what they enjoyed doing outside as a child and some of the answer I got included playing with chalk, bike rides, making mud pies, and jumping rope. So, we decided to try out each one of their favorite memories (with them) to be able to enjoy the simple things in life that were important to them as a child. It is wonderful to see the smiles on my son and my family’s faces when they share these experiences for the first time.”
Danielle at 52 New Experiences said, “I love waiting for the bus with my children. We are the only ones at our bus stop, so we play tag, Simon Says, Mother May I, Red Light Green Light…all the games I used to play as a child!”
Amanda at Dirt and Boogers said, “We horseplay a lot around here. We tickle each other, run around the house, give piggy back rides, and wrestle around on the floor. The giggles are contagious, and we have a great time!
Photo Credit: Familymwr via Flickr
BAKE TOGETHER
Valerie from Glittering Muffins said cooking and baking is a favorite “because we all love food and to be able to make it together and see Nico’s excitement when stirring, pouring or cutting is just contagious.”
photo credit: cookie flores via Flickr
TAKE A DRIVE
“We love to go for ‘dinner drives’. We pack our dinner into foil containers, jump in the car and drive around until we find a spot we like (next to a beach, lake or playground usually). If the weather is nice we open up the rear hatch and sit on cushions in the cargo area together to eat, chat and sometimes watch a movie if we take the portable player with us. The kids particularly like parking near the airport and watching the planes land while they eat!” Carrie at A Little Learning for Two.
Photo Credit: Flashy Soup Can via Flickr
RELAX
“Hauling all our blankies and pillows to the living room floor on friday nights, making marshmallow popcorn, and giggling our faces off while we try to watch a movie. With 6 kids, it’s not so quiet and we miss most of the movie every time!” Arlee from My Small Potatoes.
“Sundays are family day for us. Everything we do is together as a family and we love it. From the mundane grocery shopping to an afternoon family spa (hot tub) to dinner at grandpa’s house.” Deborah with Learn with Play.
FAMILY MEALS
“I enjoy our mealtimes together. Sometimes we sit for a couple of hours talking and eating. It’s not always at dinnertime either, sometimes it’s over pancakes on a Saturday morning. We have some the most memorable and interesting conversations with our 4-year-old because he wants to know more about something or simply because we’re just reminiscing about something from the past,” said Heather at Little Moments to Embrace.
Our intention this week is to be inspired. You can read about other Awesomely Awake intentions here.
Some days we have regular, average, nothing special kinds of days — you know, when you drop the kids off, go to work, pick the kids up and then go home and make dinner and then do homework and then give baths and then read books and go to bed.
Should I say collapse into bed?
You know those days, right?
They are regular. Nothing sparkled. Nothing shined. It was OK — and you had plenty to be grateful for, for sure.
I call them Mondays.
I can’t live that way. I don’t expect my kids to live that way either.
Part of my awake journey is to ensure that each day has a little bling of living in it. We get this one great chance at a lifetime of love and wonder and I believe we have to grab it with a firm grip and not let go.
Because a busy life naturally leads us to disconnect from what matters.
Of course, I have to be reminded of this time and time again, especially when life gets hectic as it has most definitely been lately.
That’s why we love weekends so much and hate Mondays equally. So, a while back I decided there weren’t going to be anymore Mondays in my life. That every day should be as fun as a Saturday. That’s when I started this project.
Lately, I’ve gotten extremely busy again and I can feel myself starting to endure another bout of careaholic burning inside of me. I have had to remind myself that to live an inspired, awake life takes effort and creativity. It takes a lot of deep breathing. It takes a tiny bit of planning. But when we do take the time, the results are magical and full of awe and wonder — as life should be.
Such as tonight when we split two big cupcakes and each shared our best moments of the day. Not perfect moments but things we feel we did better today than days past.
Life is meant to be lived. That’s why we are here, isn’t it? That’s why we are striving to be Awesomely Awake. That’s why we wanted a family and children, right?
So, let’s take a moment and really brainstorm how to turn a regular day into a spectacular day with very little planning. First, return to that lovely Energy List you made Monday, and the “Think Outside the Box” box list on Wednesday and read them again …
Now, we’re going to write a third list. Write the things you love to do as a family, things that bring laughter, things that bring big smiles to your day; things that give you energy, that make your day as a family shimmer and shine. Write for a long time. Keep adding to this list when new ideas come to you. They will for sure.
Now today, this weekend, next week … start doing those things as often as possible.
Science experiments always brighten a day
Here’s our family’s 9 Ways to Make Any Day Better:
Celebrate — Light a candle for something ordinary and lovely like how you did the crow in yoga or how your child was brave during the school’s fire drill. Put that candle in ice cream, a cookie or even a muffin. Anything at all that’s on hand. Even an Eggo waffle would do! Of course, the best is always a delicious chocolate cupcake.
Get Outside — Days are just better when we get out for fresh air. It’s as simple as that. Even when it’s cold and snowy. Even when it’s cloudy and grey. Even if we just play with sidewalk chalk, being outdoors makes everything better.
Talk Walks — Explore, wonder, live in awe as you walk. Make up stories. Walk in silence. Hold hands. Definitely hold hands.
Read Together — Carve out one hour to just read together. Could be anywhere but make it special and make it an ordeal with blankets and pillows and special snacks. Talk about the books. Stop often and really embrace the questions and comments. Be patient to move on to the next page. Really patient. When you run out of books, tell stories.
Throw a picnic — At the park, on the back patio, in the front yard, in the living room. A blanket and some fun food is all you need. Day better already!
Be silly — Have a night of telling jokes. Or drawing funny pictures. Dance. Play follow the leader and put Dad as the leader. Wear silly clothes.
Go some place new — I only recently added this to the list. We went to a very old-school diner kind of place and it was so nice to experience something so different together. I didn’t realize until that moment that we had been stuck in a routine that avoided some new experienes — all because we were so used to taking care of little children. Now that our girls are older this will certainly be a top energy driver in our family.
Mix up your routine — I like certainty. I like knowing things. If you pick your kids up from school or after care as I do, pack your sneakers and head across town to explore. If your kids go home on the bus, meet them at the bus stop and go for a dice walk. Let the kids make dinner. Skip baths and just play games. Go off schedule. Do anything that allows you to do less than you normally do.
Jadyn with her first Eiffel Tower drawing!
Creative boost — Anytime we use art materials as a family and create something we can be proud of it turns our day into magic. I love when we put a little family art into our day. Make a poster, a banner, special cards for family or church members who have been sick and need a pick-me-up. Or, just go with the flow and create anything.
Please add your favorite family friendly posts to the Kids Co-Op below!! Leave a comment with your link # so I can check out your posts, in particular. Thanks!
This week we’re talking about inspiration. What drives our creativity? What speaks to us? What keeps us going? Our intention this week is to inspire ourselves, and our children to think differently, be creative and have fun.
This is the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t it? Inspiration not only gets us through a day or a week but gives us a thrill inside as we do it. Inspiration turns an ordinary day into a wowza day.
With children, especially, it can take real creativity to avoid predictable routines and think outside the box. Some parents, ahem, might find that they like it when their children stick to the exact same routine and play — because it is easy.
I find our job as parents a little harder. I want to challenge my kids to think differently and do things differently. Is that sky really blue? Is that box really square?
Really? Nothing to do but watch TV?
Huh.
On Monday, I suggested that you write your Energy List. Today, I will suggest that you help your children write theirs by creating a THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX box. What motivates them, what makes them happy, what gets them laughing?
Your box or jar or drawer or envelope marked THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX will look differently than ours. We used a Chinese Take Out box with a simple sign. Much like all of our projects, there is no right way to do this and I feel that a family needs to make it their own.
The important, essential, absolute must is that the children be involved with creating the list of ideas that go inside. It’s their box of happy.
Inside this magical box is 40 ideas that our girls came up with on their own — and they also happen to truly promote thinking, learning and creativity. These ideas can be done alone, with a sibling or friend or as a family. Some, I should mention, are just plain fun. I didn’t include the more personal ones they included such as playing with very specific toys.
Next week, I will add my own ideas to their box but more on that next week! For now, here is the list my girls came up with together this past weekend — when the weather was still mostly winter unlike now when it’s mostly spring. And, just as I go through seasons in what inspires me, my children do the same. Since writing this list, I am certain they would add crawl under the forsythia bush as No. 1.
They loved sharing these ideas so much, by the way. Seeing their little minds light up with ideas makes my heart just melt.
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX IDEAS
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Jump on the bed
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Paint Your Nails/Make tattoos
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Play spy games
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Chase/Tag Outside
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Build a Fort
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Reading/Buddy Reading
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Dance Party
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Jump on Daddy
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Do each other’s hair
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Go outside
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Play with favorite toy
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Take a Walk
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Play games
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Hold a scavenger hunt
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Play map games
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Make Jewelry
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Play library
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Set up a center
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Play in basement
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Make your own pizza party
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Throw a treasure hunt
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Play veterinarian or doctor
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Play on the computer
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Play bakery
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Write!
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Set up a pretend office
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Play musical instruments
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Play pretend police officer
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Put on a parade
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Play puzzles
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Pretend to be a mom and baby
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Play school
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Explore nature
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Draw on the easel
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Science experiments
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Paint
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Sidewalk chalk art
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Arts or crafts
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Play dress up
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Play math games
And, I’m feeling all techno-fancy right now with a gift just for you. You can get a printable version of this list simply by clicking HERE! Please share in the comments any “Thinking Outside the Box” ideas your children mention. Don’t forget to share posts on inspiring play or creativity this Friday in the Kids Co-Op Link Up Party right here.
Play means many things to many people. Play can be structured. It can be free, without limits.
It can be adventurous and wild.
It can be structured and simple.
Play can take many shapes.
Loud. Quiet. Outside. In a fort. Under a tree. In the car on the way to school.
What does play mean to your family? How do you play? How does your child play?
What inspires your play and free time now? How about when you were a child?
Below is a lovely little link that I hope you will click on to add your own blog posts that promote wholesome family play and fun. You have already shared so many ideas in the comments of this site. Now it’s your turn.
Unfortunately, you will have to click through on the frog link below to see the links as that is how this kind of link up works on my WordPress blog. Your links will show up on many, many other blogs as well. This is new for me and we’ll learn as we go. Ultimately, if this works, each week we’ll grow bigger and bigger. As long as your posts relate to family fun, you can link to anything you want to show off — whether it be a post directly related to this week’s intention {such as Amaze Yourself & Play} or a great idea of your own. I will, however, show off and promote any posts that are directly related to my weekly intentions.
Whatever you’ve done that you’d like to promote, please link it up right here and start getting your ideas spinning around the Web. I just ask that you leave a link on your blog post back to this site promoting the Weekly Kid’s Co-Op. Let’s hope this works!
Be sure to check out all the great links that are included. And, big thanks to my friend Zina for making this happen.
Have fun and click on the froggy. Don’t forget to leave a comment here to let me know you are participating and what # you are so I can check it out!!
Photo Scavenger Hunt at our local Farmer's Market
This week we are talking about Living More.
I like to see how magical we can make a regular day. Sometimes, it’s hard to do big, amazing things all the time — for lack of time, energy or even resources. But, as I said in my last post, some of the best memories are those everyday moments that glimmer simply because we took the time to notice the beauty.
And why not?
Why can’t we make magical memories every single day?
As we’ve been discussing this week, the memory jar has opened my eyes to everything that we do — and don’t do — in our life. The process of writing it all down is just as meaningful, like living it twice.
I’m not sure where my idea for a farmer’s market scavenger hunt came from as it’s not original, per se, but I didn’t find it anywhere in particular. It is, however, a perfect example of turning an everyday experience into something magical. Not only did it give us a new perspective on a place we had visited dozens of times before, it gave our girls something creative to do with their newish LeapPads.
Of course, I should mention that if you do this project you will stick out a bit. People will see you and wonder what you are up to. You will have to explain what you are doing.
You will draw attention.
To prepare for this family activity, I wrote the following simple checklist of things to find at our local farmer’s market:
- Fruit
- Vegetable
- Bread
- People
- Something Interesting
- Self
So on a low-key Saturday we ate our lunch at the farmer’s market … and then we ALL went on a hunt to find the things on the list and take a photo of it. Each photo led us to meet new market vendors, find out more about what they offer as well as discover fruits and vegetables growing in mostly Florida at this time. This was not only a great, memorable activity to do together, but a fresh way to explore and get creative as a family. I noticed my family taking very special care to find not just any fruit or any vegetable but a really cool picture at the same time. Awesomely Awake Dad really got into the fun.
You could do this same scavenger hunt by drawing pictures as well if you don’t have cameras. You could also take turns with just one camera. You could also just find the items and check them off, the good old-fashioned way. There are no rules to making your own fun. Make it your own. Be original.
I have begun creating a list of other places for Scavenger Hunts that I hope we can do this spring and summer:
- Local Farms
- Parks
- Downtown, urban centers
- Special Day Trips
- Baseball game
- Woods
- Hiking trail
- Fruit picking
This was amazing, creative fun. There are many good reasons to use photography as a way to honor everyday moments. I’ll admit that even I, a writer above all, feel a different sense of being in the Now when I’m behind a camera. Photography uses a different part of my brain. I also recently began participating in an instagram photo project that inspires us to capture everyday beauty. Here are some of our photos. Can you guess which ones were shot by the children? You might be surprised to learn that all but two of them were!
How about you? Any scavenger hunts in your future? How do you turn ordinary days into magic?
So just how do we live more? It’s perhaps a little easier said than done, right? Especially — well, particularly — for those of us with children. Perhaps even harder for those of us with no family to help out for even a day, let alone a night or a weekend? How do we live more?
I will admit, I struggle with this intention. And that’s why I wrote it.
But, now more than six years into this parenting gig, I do get it. Perhaps I always did.
For me, living is the little things. And when I look back at old videos, old pictures, old blog posts from a couple blogs ago, I realize … we have been extremely blessed to live a really awesome life — one that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.
How do we live more with children?
I started thinking about this concept when I read Life is a Verb, as I wrote about in Monday’s Amaze Yourself & Live Life post, but that mindset really sunk in when our family created a memory jar.
For us, the memory jar is an old rice container that has been repurposed with a little sign that says Fink Memory Jar. We started it last September or so — long enough to know what we are doing. This idea popped up on Pinterest last year and I think it came from Parent Hacks but I’m not sure of the origination of anything anymore.
Currently, I am usually the only person writing memories in the jar but the whole family contributes to what should be written so it is truly a family effort. But, contrary to what you might think, memories are verbs. There are actions in memories. We have to do something, see something, hear something, notice something for it feel like a true memory.
We have to notice the beauty or we may miss it. And then you’ll get to the end of your day and think there’s nothing to write about today. There weren’t any A-ha Moments, in other words. It might have been a lovely day, a wonderful day even but no memories?? How can that be? How sad! What a tragedy!
I brainstormed one evening during my gratitude practice and discovered that there’s a whole lotta memories and living happening that we had glossed over as a family. I had been ignoring some wonderful, tiny, special, glittery moments that pass by with barely a blink.
This lesson was a lot like in the movie, “Up” when Mr. Frederickson realizes that his wife was a dreamer, yes, but that their everyday life together was all that really mattered to her. Such a poignant moment in the movie and I dare you to not cry during that scene. Double dare.
The reason that scene is so emotional for so many is because we realize that we are all so busy chasing those big “Rainbow” moments that we often forget about the small, everyday shimmery ones.
And, this memory jar project is also great motivation to start living life more. I highly recommend you start this jar today. You can put the little notes of paper in anything at all — a bowl, a ziplock bag — but start today. You will not regret it. Please share some ideas for memories to write down as well in the comments!
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Silly songs your family sings
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The crazy things kids say
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The crazy things parents say
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Anything related to body functions
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Illnesses — or better yet, that amazing feeling you feel when you are finally better!
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Random Acts of Kindness — both that you’ve done and when others do it to you
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Movie nights, game nights, art nights
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Big, scary bugs
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Big, scary messes
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Trips — big and little, far and near
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Daily rituals
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Traditions
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Adventures — tame and wild
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Learning moments
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Teachable moments
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Firsts. Ah, the firsts. {first roller skating experience}
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Books read — this includes parents’ books, too!!
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Special meals {spontaneous invite to a friend’s for Pizza Margherita!}
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Neat sightings {like when we saw 5 deer run across a highway}
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Silly things that make everyone laugh like taking a night to talk in a made-up language
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Weird things{ like when five cats suddenly show up living in your backyard.}
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The precious, sweet moments when you catch random kindness
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Your promotions and successes at work or in your community
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Your milestones {such as when I did back bends in yoga!!}
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Your dreams turning to reality {the day 5,000 people visited my blog!!}
At the end of the year — or whenever you feel like it — read these notes from the whole year. Now, share some of your own ideas to add to our memory jars!
I love family art days. When our family gets together at the dining room table to do art together, my heart swells with pride. It’s perhaps one of my Top 10 family moments each year.
Fortunately and unfortunately we had time to throw together Family Art this past weekend.
To say that one of my girls was under the weather would be an understatement. It was the kind of illness that leaves you worried around the clock. The result was not only the cancelling of a very big trip but the inability to really do anything at all but sit and soothe.
In the middle of it all, I really wanted to do something fun and special to cheer us all up, especially the sick girl. First we wrote her little notes, which were fine but not enough. By the third day, notes just weren’t going to cut it.
And then I remembered a project I had been planning to do: A Family Banner. You can take this project in many directions, but we wanted it to be so simple that everyone could do it, even a very sick little girl. My amazing friend Jena sparked the concept of this project in me when she commented on my Wonder Board post about how she has conversations with her daughters about how to describe their family.
I love how this project requires a little thought, conversation and planning. I love how it gets us all thinking about what family means. I love that it’s artistic but also very meaningful to us. I love that it hangs just so under our family photos that mean so much to us as well.
Again, I emphasize that I love creative projects that are easy, accessible and practical. I feel this falls into that category perfectly. Anyone can do this with very simple materials and effort.
All you need to do this project is the following:
- Colored Paper of your choice
- White or lighter color paper of your choice
- Yarn, string or some other hanging material
- Hole punch
- Art supplies — whatever you have on hand.
First I cut the papers to fit to a nice rectangle size. I actually used two colors of the background paper and a nice light gray.
And then, while everyone was sitting around — well, that’s all we did — I asked questions about what it means to be family such as what does family mean, family stands for ___ ? or what is our family like? For our girls, who are 6, it took a little effort to get this conversation started but once it did, their ideas were overflowing. These were some of their answers:
Family is cool
Family is sweet
Family is caring
Family takes care of each other
I added a few of my own as well …
Our family is beautiful
Family is forever.
We took turns writing those saying on each flag and then decorating those flags.
And then, the magical part, came when we each created our own Name flag for the banner. We wrote our names — I wrote my many names such as Mama, Mommy, Shawn, Writer, etc. — and then we gave them flair with collage!
We had a ton of fun with this part of the banner.
Our banner now hangs lovingly in our family room where we can all see it every day. It’s a nice happy reminder of what really matters each day — even when things really don’t go our way. A wonderful reminder that the four of us are always here for each other when the going gets tough.
My own image of my children on their Leap Pads the first day they received them.
It’s not easy being a parent. No matter if you work outside the home, inside the home. No matter if you have one, two, three or fifteen children. No matter if you have a small house in a big city or a big house in a small city. No matter if you have money or very little money.
Raising children is hard work — at least it is if you are doing it right.
It’s really no wonder parents are spending more time than ever checking in on Facebook, smart phones, or doing project after project after project. It helps to have something to do rather than sit around and dwell on all the stuff we want to be able to do or used to be able to do but no longer can. This self-medicating with social media is harmful — as Rachel at Hands Free Mama has said so eloquently this week on her blog.
And yet our children don’t care how fancy we are as parents, or how many messages we get in an hour about our blog. The smaller they are the more they need us. The bigger they are, the more they need us. Sometimes, the more they need us, the more we want to slink away and find some blanket to crawl under. But it doesn’t have to feel that way.
Breaks for parents are absolutely essential. Absolutely.
There is a time and place for media and screens and technology. And there is a time and place for NO media and NO screens. It’s about being conscious, as a parent and a human being, about when and how we are turning to the computer or TV for simply boredom or laziness or seriously trying to avoid our lives.
To truly be awake to this life — these fleeting 18 years — we have but one choice to make each day: embrace our blessings and honor those around us. Practicing mindful choices each day is something that we have to model for our children or else they, too, will end up staring at screens all too much in their own life (like that picture above!).
There are many ways that you can just be with your children that are not hard work, that are not challenging or tiresome. By just being there, you may discover that your child will reach out to you simply because you are suddenly available. The magic in this list is that it’s just simply being together for a solid half hour or so but it offers up the most beneficial memories we can offer to children. Here are some of our family’s favorites:
- Turn off the TV/computer/phones for one hour. (In our house, we limit daily screen time to a total of one hour except on movie nights).
- Have a work hour — they do homework and you work on a hobby like art or reading while sitting at the same table.
- Just listen to music. At our house, we call this a dance party.
- Light a candle for your children — one each.
- Surprise them with a celebration for trying hard on a test or homework and eat store bought cookies and milk.
- Sit on the couch while they play and read magazines. They will sit next to you eventually and ask, “Whatcha reading?”
- Grab two balls and challenge everyone to find something fun to do with them outside.
- Snuggle under a blanket or put a puzzle together.
- Whip up a nice bowl of ice cream and laugh while you eat it.
- Watch TV with them if they insist on watching.
- Ask them open-ended questions about their day.
- Tell them something surprising about your day.
- Draw together, taking turns adding new lines on the same paper.
- Take a drive, taking turns picking the direction and sitting in silence as the unfamiliar landscape passes you by.
- Look at their baby photos.
- Tell them a funny story from their younger days.
- Tell them a funny story from your own childhood.
- In fact, tell them any story you can think of telling.
- Ask them to teach you how to do something. This is big. Very big.
- Ask them questions about their favorite things.
- Help them clean their room or the basement or the garage. Whatever. Lend a hand.
- Ask them for help with a problem.
- Hold a family meeting to just catch up.
- Announce that there will be no cleaning for just one day.
- Give them a coupon for a hug to use anytime they need it.
What kinds of things do you like to do with our family to just relax and be together with little expectations?
Awesomely Awake 