I have a suggestion for those of you still in the throws of child rearing: Take time out to have fun.
Today my husband, youngest daughter and I woke up at 5 am (or at 0′ dark hundred, as J.P. likes to say) and drove and hour and a half to a soccer tournament. And it is Saturday, my one day to sleep later than the roosters. OK, so I don’t live within 50 miles of a rooster – but when the alarm goes off 6 days a week, it sure feels like it.
But I digress.
After the tournament we stopped to get a bite to eat and ended up in the most darling old section of town. The kind with quaint cobble stone streets and window boxes overflowing with shades of purples, yellows and greens. We lingered over our meal, strolled through a few shops. We laughed and talked. We had fun.
It reminded me of days when our kids were all younger – before soccer and cheerleading and football and homework ruled our lives. During those years we periodically took time out for “family fun days”. We would pile the kids in the car and head to the zoo or Disneyland or some undiscovered place we had never explored and we would stay until after dinner, doing nothing but just being together as a family. I would pack the kid’s jammies, blankets and pillows and we would all head home exhausted but content.
Today was like that. It reminded me of what I have loved most in my life – those long ago family fun days. Looking back, I sure don’t regret the money we spent or the times we didn’t do Saturday chores on those precious “family fun days.” And let me tell you something, you won’t either.
So next Saturday, or a Saturday in the near future, stop. Take time out. Do something out of the ordinary with your family. Get out of the house and just have fun together. Sure, the kids may whine and complain a bit, but do it anyway. You’ll see. Someday you’ll be thinking back on your life and this is one thing you’ll be glad you did.
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17
