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Making Fun
In the summer time we can be driven to looking for fun. How about making fun, instead?
Do you find yourself assuming the fun-making responsibility for your kids in the summertime? After all, we assume responsibility for many other things in their lives. Their health - by making doctor's appointments; their transportation - by making car-pooling arrangements; their nutrition - by making their favorite healthy foods. Naturally we think we also have to make their fun.
Carol Kuykendall writes about her own habit of making fun for her children in the summer: "I used to fill their days with regularly scheduled swim lessons, gymnastics, and library story times. I remember one hot summer afternoon when they were bobbing up and down in the pool after swim lessons. "What are we going to do tonight?" one asked.
"Nothing," I said thankfully.
"We gotta' do something!" came the moan.
That plea gave me an "Aha-Mommy-Moment" and made me realize that I'd created an addiction to activities. With all my fun-making, I'd probably communicated that doing something was always better than doing nothing.
So we began to slowly downshift our activity levels.
As summer wound down, we wound down. We had more do-nothing time when the kids were in charge of their own fun-making. Some afternoons seemed way too long for all of us, but the lesson for me was clear: when moms assume responsibility for making their kids' fun, we rob them of opportunity to learn to make their own fun.
So, go easy on yourself today, MOM, especially if you feel like you're over-burdened as the family entertainment director. When you hear the words, "I'm bored!" Think of it as an opportunity to let your children's imaginations grow!
For more ideas for summer fun, visit us at www.MOPS.org. And meet me here again for MOMSense. |
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