I haven’t always been a stay at home Mom. In fact, since my son has been born, I have spent countless evenings, weekends, and holidays working. At one point, I left my job to go work for a family member who promised more time with my kids. That turned into more hours than the job I left. I have many many regrets about the first few years of my son’s life. I know I can’t go back, but I’m making the best of the time I have now staying home with my kids.
My son and I sat down and brainstormed together what we like to do. Here, we’ll list our top 5 favorite week night fun.
1. Themed Dinner Night - We love this. Our favorite theme is taco night. This opens a few doors. First, it gets your kids in the kitchen with you. Ethan loves to help set up all the taco fixings on the table. Second, it’s fun. I know for Ethan the more fun it is; the more likely he’ll eat. Third, it’s a good excuse to have a family dinner together. With many parents working later and later hours now or kids having after school or evening activities, it’s getting harder for families to sit down together during the week. If this is the only time you can get the family together, do it!
2. Engage the kids in household tasks. – If my husband has something that needs fixing, he will get Ethan to assist him. My husband will teach him about what tools he’ll be using, he’ll have him pass him the tools, and even will have Ethan help bang a nail or two. (With supervision) Ethan loves this and this is a way to spend some time with him while getting something done on my always long “honey-do” list!
3. Go for a walk or play outside. I try my hardest to do this every day. It gives me a few minutes to get some fresh air and spend some time talking to the kids where there aren’t any distractions. It’s very easy after dinner is over to take a quick 20 minute walk around the block or play outside. Plus a little exercise never hurt anyone right?
4. Have a family game night. This is something we try to fit into our Friday nights. Whether it is a board game or a video game, we take an hour and have a little healthy competition. If it’s during the week, play a quick game of go fish.
5. Have a movie night. We love to turn off all the lights, pop some popcorn, and curl up in the blankets watching movies. If it’s a week night, we’ll keep it to a 30 minute cartoon. It’s a nice way to wind down after the day is done and gives the kids a little quiet time before bed.
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~Nikki
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellgen/4408941853/">jpellgen</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photo pin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
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