Finding Time for Fun

Where has all the fun gone? Remember anticipating being a parent and raising your family? There were no thoughts of cleaning gutters or finding affordable life insurance on your mind, right? Somewhere along the way, our fun got buried by responsibilities. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Before I was a parent, I was a good aunt and was sure I’d be a super fun Mom. I was always available for whatever came up, had lots of disposable income to buy the best presents, had never ending ideas of fun stuff to do and abundant energy to do it all. It was sure to be even better when I had my own kids. Does this sound familiar?

The obvious difference in being an aunt and a mom is that it was not so much my job to teach, guide, or discipline nieces and nephews. Of course we want to be a good role model and good influence. But that is not the point of the relationship. The point is fun and love. Well sure that’s the point of parenthood too, except you have to also make sure your kids behave and learn and grow and thrive. That’s not all though.

The big challenge in parenting and fun is the pressure of everything going on around you. There is a mortgage to pay, a house to maintain, a job to do, cars & food & clothing & LIFE to pay for, people getting sick, losing loved ones, mowing the lawn, and so much more! Unfortunately our family bonding and fun time can easily take a back seat to all that. It doesn’t have to, though.

I bet if you sat back and analyzed the situation, there IS time to squeeze in a game of CONNECT FOUR with the family or go for a bike ride through the neighborhood after dinner. It isn’t always the TIME that is missing, but the quiet of mind that allows you to REMEMBER to do it. Even if the kids say, “Hey, wanna go for a walk?” your reaction might be to think you don’t have time. But I bet you do.

Sometimes just the idea of a game or an activity sounds too overwhelming to get started. It will just make another mess to clean up. It won’t work out anyway. Have you ever had these thoughts yourself? Well I have found so many good and easy and fun activities on the internet. I have long planned an organized schedule here at Her-Family-Blog offering different themes for different days. It’s funny how my schedule today is so different than the one I planned a year ago. Ideas for at home family activity and projects is a valuable resource right now especially. With our extra money on low, and stress & depression on high, what could be more important than finding as many ways as we can to have fun and bond as a family, without having to save up or even go out!? So my fantasy blogging schedule definitely has family activities on the roster. We’ll see if it transpires

For now, here is a super activity, perfect for this time between summer and fall. I searched out “bug catchers” specifically because my Sari loves catching and observing bugs. This is not only a great video, but the end product is cooler than I ever imagined! Can’t wait to try it!