When my boys were three and five we started a rainy day party that took off remained a fun family day for many years. We began planning our rainy day party by digging out all the old birthday party decorations we had left over and decorated the house. The decorations did not make sense where we put them. If streamers usually went on the ceiling or high on the walls, we would put them on the floor or low on the walls. Party hats might have been taped to the back of a chair or on a window. Decorating was anything goes.
We made stromboli with all our favorite pizza toppings and each one as unique as we were. A simple press pie crust pie was prepared by little hands for dessert. While the food was baking in the oven it was time to put our plans into action.
Throughout the decorating and baking process, laughter and music could be heard in every room of the house. We played a bunch of games and even made up a few of our own games where the rules were thrown out the window after we made them up. We laughed and we laughed until we could laugh no more.
Dinner was served after our scavenger hunt was completed and the boys were as worn out as us parents. It was so much fun and wonderful memories. But, our boys did not stay little for long. As they grew up, playing child games was just not fun anymore. We changed our rainy day party to a whole new level.
We now had appetizer night. Everyone got to chose their favorite appetizers for dinner that night and a few that we all loved. We would dig out cards, chess set, scrabble or yatzee, whatever game we were in the mood to play. We would gather around the dining room table or sometimes the coffee table where we had more room and play, laugh and talk. Now that was something for the record books, a tween and a teen wanting to play games with their parents. We love those times when we are together.
It seems that food is the common theme in all our fun family times. It is something that the boys have had instilled in them since they turned one year old. We would begin teaching them how to cook. Now sometimes it is heating up some mozzarella sticks or frying some battered mushrooms, other times it is making a three course meal Iron Chef style for father's day. But food brings us together to laugh, talk, share and really connect as a family.
The boys remember the rainy day parties and the appetizer nights for reasons similar and different than mine. But they are all good reasons. The remember the time we spent with them teaching them when they didn't realize we were teaching. They remember us being silly with them and they remember us wanting to spend time doing what they wanted to do. That is how I keep my family happy. I take time to do what they want to do, cook with them, talk with them, laugh with them and love them.
“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Farm Rich blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”
Taking care of the written word,
Dannielyn
We made stromboli with all our favorite pizza toppings and each one as unique as we were. A simple press pie crust pie was prepared by little hands for dessert. While the food was baking in the oven it was time to put our plans into action.
Throughout the decorating and baking process, laughter and music could be heard in every room of the house. We played a bunch of games and even made up a few of our own games where the rules were thrown out the window after we made them up. We laughed and we laughed until we could laugh no more.
Dinner was served after our scavenger hunt was completed and the boys were as worn out as us parents. It was so much fun and wonderful memories. But, our boys did not stay little for long. As they grew up, playing child games was just not fun anymore. We changed our rainy day party to a whole new level.
We now had appetizer night. Everyone got to chose their favorite appetizers for dinner that night and a few that we all loved. We would dig out cards, chess set, scrabble or yatzee, whatever game we were in the mood to play. We would gather around the dining room table or sometimes the coffee table where we had more room and play, laugh and talk. Now that was something for the record books, a tween and a teen wanting to play games with their parents. We love those times when we are together.
It seems that food is the common theme in all our fun family times. It is something that the boys have had instilled in them since they turned one year old. We would begin teaching them how to cook. Now sometimes it is heating up some mozzarella sticks or frying some battered mushrooms, other times it is making a three course meal Iron Chef style for father's day. But food brings us together to laugh, talk, share and really connect as a family.
The boys remember the rainy day parties and the appetizer nights for reasons similar and different than mine. But they are all good reasons. The remember the time we spent with them teaching them when they didn't realize we were teaching. They remember us being silly with them and they remember us wanting to spend time doing what they wanted to do. That is how I keep my family happy. I take time to do what they want to do, cook with them, talk with them, laugh with them and love them.
“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Farm Rich blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”
Taking care of the written word,
Dannielyn
Hi Dannielyn,
ReplyDeleteI love this story. I am a new reader visiting and following you from at Valerie @ My-2-Cents I could love a visit from you.