Don’t Forget the Fun

I know these economic times bring significant stress to many families, but I want to encourage you to remember the fun. When adults are stressed it is often reflected in the children. One of the best antidotes for everyone is having fun as a family. Let me be very clear, I’m not talking about going out and buying a new toy! I’m talking about simply spending time with the children, not working on homework, not watching TV, not playing a video game, but simply spending time with children and talking with them. In a perfect world, this would be doing something the child wants, but I know that is hard for many adults. In reality, most kids will be happy just spending time with you, even if they don’t get to pick the activity. Maybe you can build a sand box, clean out the attic, play a board game, blow bubbles, read a big pile of books, make a homemade pizza, or take a walk together. When my husband was laid off work and I was pregnant with our second child, we probably did the dumbest thing there was to do. We packed up our tent and took our son on a trip to Yellowstone. We went as inexpensively as possible. But the point is we spent a lot of time together with him. It was a relation building activity and a memory maker. With higher gas prices, this might not be possible now, but if you happen to have some extra time on your hands, find a way to do something fun with your children. You’ll be glad you did!