McBlog

Sometimes, I want to be “fun” by letting my kids do things that are out of my comfort zone, because I don’t want to be super controlling and say “No, no, no” all the time. I mean, why not let them do what they want?

Live it up! Let kids be kids! Life is short!

But sometimes, the whole thing kinda sorta backfires and the joke’s on me.

Example: When I allowed Chase to play/rejoice in a huge box of styrofoam packing peanuts and it took a long, long, long time for us to get all those tiny, sticky pieces all cleaned up! I was not pleased with the outcome, and I kicked myself.

Or a couple days ago, when I let Charlotte carry around my deodorant stick, because she JUST wanted to “hold it & smell it,” and we later found this mysterious white, chalky stuff wiped all over Charlotte’s face & hair, the couch, end table, and all the coasters:

Sure enough, the deodorant was all used up! Silly me. I wasn’t sure how to get the coasters all cleaned off, so I stuck them in the dishwasher… Bad idea. Deodorant residue all over "freshly cleaned” dishes! I had to laugh at my silliness.

Also, on the same day, Chase wanted us to go out & build an igloo in the snow (we hadn’t had snow in forever, until a few days ago!). But there wasn’t enough snow to build a large, person-sized igloo like he wanted, so I got out our dozens of toilet paper & paper towel rolls that we have stocked up. We built a nice igloo with a blanket over it & a tunnel going inside.

However, after about 5 minutes I really should have snatched those things up & put them far, far away from Chase’s grasp! Because he threw the rolls all over downstairs, unraveled a few rolls of the paper towels & toilet paper all over downstairs, & also snuck a toilet paper roll up to his room so he could “TP” the bunk beds. I caught him in the act! He was bummed that he wasn’t allowed to continue.

At least he had fun while it lasted.

And I later informed Pace that we officially have a “Kid House.” I figure you know what I mean by that!

Yesterday, my friend Jamie and I were discussing (on the phone) how even though we’re aware that there are a variety ways to be a “Good Mom”, we sometimes still feel like we’re not very awesome because we don’t do super awesome things that other moms do. (I know that comparing ourselves to others is just pointless, because it discourages us & we’re comparing our weak points with others’ strengths. But I find myself doing so, anyway!)

I’ve felt like I should make more creative craft-type items with/for my kids, because “Good Moms” do things like that all the time, but then I just think that the $ and effort to purchase/gather all the materials (and perhaps just wanting to throw it in the trash after a few days) is not worth it!That’s just my opinion.

So I take a simpler approach and do things like the following:

–Make & eat homemade popsicles (for these, we poured 100% apple juice into molds & dropped a few blueberries into each one, too—kind of nutritious!):

(Those Ikea popsicle molds were certainly a great investment. I didn’t know if they would be one of those things that you think you’re going to use, but never do. However, we’ve made a variety of pudding pops, juice pops, & yogurt pops over the last couple years. So easy & cheap!)

–Build things together (or just watch your kids & admire their creations) is another simple yet great thing to do:

–Give them cookie cutters at lunch time to cut out their sandwiches and gobble them up! Easy & fun.

–And then there’s the simple pleasure of spending time together, doing ANYTHING. (The Hottie below is watching Duck Tales with his kids, and cuddling with them. He also enjoys taking Chase to Home Depot the 1st Saturday of each month to do the free wood craft.)

I mean, look how much fun Charlotte is having. Ha!

–Another simple activity is going to Story Time at the library, checking out books & movies, then playing on the playground there.

…That list isn’t too shabby! Even if I’m not very crafti-licious, we can still do interesting things.

So my point is this: If you’re like me & feel like you don’t do enough super awesome things with your kids, think again, because maybe the simple things you do with them or for them are more valuable & “awesome” than you originally thought.