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I have been reading the blog of another adoptive Mama - She has 13 children, and is just amazing at having fun. You can visit her here: http://bakersdozen.typepad.com . One time, after doing something cool with her children, she said it was one more step in making her home the "funnest" place around. That convicted me. She had a great party to watch Nim's Island, and hosted a really fun summer camp for her children and some of their friends. She actually does stuff like that. Did I mention she has 13 children? 4 more than I do? So what's my excuse? I have been feeling convicted to have FUN with my children. Then I read this blog this morning: http://happytobeathome.net/being-a-fun-mom/ . Think God is trying to tell me something? I used to be a fun mom. One time (in 2001), we had fun. We had read a book about the Topsy Turvey Family, and had a Backwards Party. We took showers in the hose outside (With clothes on!), then entered the house face first through windows. All the clothes were inside out and backwards. We ate on the bottoms of plates, and ate dessert first. It was fun. The children still talk about it. All the photos on the photos here are from that night...  Fast forward a few years. Two moves and 5 more children later, and we tried to have FUN last week. I am sure you can tell where this is going. We ate fast food at home (you have to do this when it would cost you almost $50 to drive through a fast food joint. And when the nearest one is 25 minutes away. That's not a joke.) I made sausage and hot dogs, fries, and each child got THEIR OWN CAN OF SODA.  Friday afternoon is our time to do our weekend cleaning... so I had warned them to do them especially carefully and look at their checklists to be sure they didn't forget anything. When I inspected them, I gave them a ticket for each job done correctly. These tickets could be turned in for toppings for the ice cream I bought. FUN, right? Well, it turned out I had to go visit a friend in the hospital, which got me home late, which started our FUN late. The gas ran out on the grill, so we had to boil the dogs. We didn't eat until 6:30, which is a recipe for disaster when you have 4 children ages 5 and under. And one child lost his tickets. Twice. And the drinks got spilled, and - well - it just wasn't much fun for me.  The next morning Eric sent me a thing put out by http://www.familyman.com , excerpted here: " I’ve also been thinking about the somewhat-annual backyard camping trip that needs to happen in the next couple of weekends before the nights turn really cold. I’m not sure we’ve pitched the tent in our yard in the last two years, but I know it’s time to get it out. The kids love it. They love the smell of the tent, the warmth of the fire, and the frigid cold in the morning. I don’t love it---but I love them and what happens when we camp in the backyard. If you want the painfully honest truth, I don’t really love most of what my kids love doing. I don’t love playing kickball, going on bike rides, hosting the Wilson Olympics, or having pillow fights in the familyroom. BUT---I do love my children and they LOVE doing all that stuff---with ME. So, Dad, make this Labor Day a good’un. Play hard, camp in the backyard, take a canoe trip down a creek, go for a long-promised bike ride, go to the mall to do some serious back-to-school clothes shopping, or whatever else it is that your children would love to do with you. Yeah, I know you don’t love doing those things---but I know you do love them." [Emphasis mine]  So (if you have made it this far) I am trying to have FUN! We are getting ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for a week, which is LOTS of fun. But it is 10 hours in the car both ways. Anyone have any ideas to make that more FUN?  |
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Posted by Anonymous
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