Friday, January 18, 2013

Friday Family Fun Night!!

My older sister had a crash course into parenthood recently when she became guardian of my 5 year old nephew. She created Friday Family fun night to give my nephew something to look forward to and also give him a quiet comfort knowing this now was his home. We adopted it in my household to give my son a sense of family unity and best of all its his guilty pleasures night. This event is so very simple and many of us do it without even realizing the routine. My son knows this is the night we play board games or watch a movie as a family. No exceptions. This means I can't slough off my mommy duties onto Grandma even as tired as I am. My boyfriend is even expected to be there. My son stresses the importance of ALL of us being there because that's what families do.

Being together as a family can be difficult especially with today's economy requiring us to seek out employment with unconventional work schedules. Here in good ol' Wyoming 90% of families are employed in the energy industry. This means majority of parents primarily dads are gone for work for a large portion of the month. I notice that most of the stay at home moms I know are oilfield widows. They are actually some of the most crafty and organized ladies I've met. However when "dad" gets home these ladies go crazy. Not only are the kids excited to see dad all of the sudden routines and schedules go out the door. Everything they know is turned upside down. I understand most of the time this is because the "dad" wants to just relax and have fun. Okay dads heads up! Your lovely lady keeps the home clean, laundry done, 3 square meals a day and is a taxi driver without you there. Sure she wants to pull her hair out and dose the kids up on sleeping pills ( I know that's terrible to say but hey you have thought about some miracle cure for hyperactivity right?) but she gets it done without your help. All she wants from you when you get home is to entertain the children and clean up after yourself. I know you're tired and just want to kick back and watch mindless TV but your kids need you. They need you to show them how to win at monopoly or be a good loser. They need you to make a couch fort and watch classic cartoons while making super hero masks. All this takes is 1 hour! 1 hour of your attention is a lifetime of memories. Every precious moment your children get with you even if you don't work is helping to shape them into the people they will become. I know you are tired I too am wicked tired as I try to babble this entry out after a long day at work and wrangling my boy. However you are reading this which gives me hope that you want to be more involved with your family.

Ok back to Friday family fun night here's how you plan:
1) Pick the easiest, yummiest, crowd pleasing entree you can think of. Example: Spaghetti and Meatballs
2) Do not forget dessert. Make it fun! Example: "create your own" ice cream sundaes or banana splits
3)You can put game ideas into a hat and do a blind pull. It makes it easier to avoid "I wanna" melt downs
4) Games can be board games, multiplayer video games or ones you find and want to try. Do research there are so many sites out there to get ideas from. Warning some of these games can be really how do you say? Dumb. Choose age appropriate for all kiddos.
5) Everyone needs to be involved. It only takes a few hours to do this. Bored teenagers can deal with it and so can you. Its important to stress family involvement.
6) Turn off TV, phones, computer, eReaders, etc. You all deserve each others undivided attention.
7) Make a trophy for the game winner that they have to bring back next Friday to be passed on to the next winner. Everyone loves to compete make it into a tournament.
8) Take lots of pictures. These are memories and its so easy to forget these moments.
9) Movies deserve popcorn and awesome drinks! Select one kiddo to be the "movie usher" and distribute the goodies. Do not panic its only one day of popcorn crushed into the floor and sofa. That's what dogs and vacuums are for. My rule is all drinks have lids and cannot be red, blue, or purple.
10) Cuddle with your family. Try and squish all on the same couch. Yeah. That won't happen for very long but its the thought that counts!
My boys playing Clue Jr

So I hope that helps with another family building activity. I have some resources to share but I'll wait till next week. Remember this Wednesday January 23rd is World Wonder Russia night. I have a menu/shopping list and other goodies for you available Sunday January 20th. Please share this blog as well as my Facebook community page https://www.facebook.com/AvantGardeParenthood and if you have anything you'd like to share PLEASE comment or email me avantgardeparenthood@gmail.com  

1 comment:

  1. So, what would be some good stuff to do with a three year old??

    ReplyDelete