It is the smack-dab middle of summer. Our sunflowers are waving their leaves over a very brown lawn, and our family is tired from busy days and late nights. Some of us are feeling off-kilter from the lack of a consistent routine and predictable days. All of us are a little bit fussy. Sometimes that makes for…bumpy days.
Queue a difficult departure
Yesterday, we were headed to a playdate. Though we were all looking forward to time with friends, the departure was a bit rocky. Everyone slept in, myself included, and we had a short window in which to get ready and out the door.
My children were chest-deep in our dress up box, pulling on two-sizes-too-small firefighter suits and astronaut helmets and a newly acquired glittering mermaid tail skirt. All the while, I was barking commands about getting dressed and eating breakfast and routinely giving time updates.
We left the house twenty minutes behind schedule, with a gracious host waiting on the other side of our car ride. Five minutes from home, I realized I forgot my breakfast. I drove home, retrieved food, and began our journey again.
As I drove, a recent habit reared its head. I heard my daughter yell: “How much longer?” I replied: “17 minutes.”
Two minutes later…
“How much longer?”
“Fifteen minutes.”
As I watched the clock, grumpily waiting for the question to be repeated, we came to a road full of rolling hills.
This is when I remembered that I control the tone. I decided to add fun.
Just as someone began asking how much longer, I shouted: “It’s the hilly road, are you ready?!”
I punched the gas, and we went zooming over the hill, stomachs lagging behind. Everyone squealed, and I felt my face relax.
I continued in this fashion. By hill number three, my oldest laugh-shouted: “What is she doing?!”
Eventually, we made our next turn, and our hilly adventure came to an end. By then, a favorite Caspar Babypants song came through the speakers. As we were all singing, I thought about how very fun, or very NOT fun a car ride can be. I also thought about my kids being adults and remembering that time Mama went nuts on the hilly road. I hope they remember me like that, and not as the mom acting as drill sergeant every time we left the house.
Of course, there will be many mornings I have to keep us all on task and get us out the door. I still need to brush my daughter’s hair, and floss everyone’s teeth, and help us all do our chores….and no one is particularly excited about those things. But I think there are ways to make un-fun tasks and days fun, and ways to bring a little silliness and laughter into the good, hard work of child-raising.
Today, I’d like to offer up a few little things we’ve been doing lately to make life a little more fun.
Little Ways to Add Fun to Days of Parenting
1. Rolling over hilly roads in our big van.
Obviously, BE SAFE! But if you have a good spot to speed up over a hill, or do a silly serpentine in a parking lot, do it sometimes! We also like to spice up a boring drive with the music of Caspar Babypants (my personal favorite: “Let the S Go”), a good podcast (we like Brains On, Greeking Out, and God’s Big Story, among others), or an old-fashioned game of I-Spy.
2. Eating watermelon in sticks.
Thank you to our friend, who brought watermelon to share earlier this summer, and brought it cut into sticks, instead of the usual slices. It is less messy, and just plain fun. We also like to use a crinkle-cutter to make crinkle-cut cucumbers, cheese, or anything else we can slice.
3. Decorating cupcakes.
This past weekend, I asked my kids what they wanted to do to make our weekly pizza night more special. They requested cake. I did not have time to make a cake, BUT, we decided we could decorate a cake. After seeing the price of a grocery store bakery cake, I ended up buying a box of cake mix and some rainbow chip frosting. They requested candy for decorating, so I hit up the Winco bulk bins. After we baked the cupcakes, they each got to decorate a plate full. They loved it, and enjoyed those cupcakes more than any homemade treat I could make.
(I am now dreaming of making homemade rainbow chip frosting. If I succeed, or even attempt it, I will be sure to share my efforts.)
4. Playing with paper.
Did you know there are few things more fun than using scissors and tape? I have begun setting aside cardboard packaging (cereal boxes, etc.) and toilet paper rolls and other paper recycling. Last week, I let the kids have at it, and they were entertained for literal hours. In the end, we did have a floorful of confetti to clean up, but they learned that cutting scraps comes with big clean up, and we all got the job done together.
5. Painting with water.
This is one my mom taught me. I’ll give the kids paint brushes and little containers of water. Usually the water table is filled up, too. The kids can paint on the fence, the little concrete patio, and their plastic playhouse. For some reason, this is very fun.
6. Having fun with dough.
Recently, I was making pretzel buns, and decided to make some of the dough into letters for my kids’ initials. I hid them in the pantry after I baked them, and surprised them with their letter pretzels at lunch the next day. The mix of surprise and something new made for a fun lunch on an otherwise “normal” day.
BONUS FUN!
This bonus idea is not a simple, silly add-in to your day – it is a full-blown activity requiring some preparation and clean-up, but it is very fun, and needs to be shared. I think it is a great “summer fun” activity.
Painting on a window!
I snatched this idea from a very fun blog: What We Do All Day. See the original post here.
Basically, you mix a drop of dish soap into some tempera paint and (gasp!) let your kids pain on the window. How fun is that? She suggested using painter’s tape to make a boundary. You could also use the tape to make a fun design or shape. I made it down to the end of our roll and had to get creative, but it still worked wonders to keep the paint contained.
I did this activity with a 2 and 3 year old, and they both thought it was incredibly fun.
I’m kidding myself if I think my kids won’t remember (and hopefully tease me) about how I used to make a spectacle of myself every time we left the house. But I hope they also remember the times I made a fun spectacle of myself.
Looking to add more fun to your home? See my post about adding whimsy to your home.