Because the Best Mom is a Happy Mom
Do your kids look at Memorial Day as just a day off?
We have BBQ’s and swim parties. We gather with friends. But, you’ve never discussed the real meaning of the holiday with them…
Yes? I admit. I did too.
And I did it with a bit of guilt.
That’s why I’m so excited to partner with USAA for this post to show you how easy it can be to teach kids about Memorial Day.
Ever wish summer wasn’t such a big stressor? That you, as a parent, didn’t have to worry about creating a summer schedule or organizing activities for your older kids?
You roamed free every summer. You woke up when you wanted to. Maybe you swam for a summer swim team. Then, you watched a little TV and read book after book. Babysitters Club, R.L. Stine – you finished full series.
Your parents didn’t seem stressed about entertaining you every minute of every day. We knew how to entertain ourselves.
Why don’t our kids know how to do that?
One reason: They don’t know how.
“Five more minutes!” you call into the living room.
Your daughter and son are both engrossed in their tablets. They haven’t left the couch all afternoon.
You feel that you have no control over it either – take away their devices and they become complaining, moping monsters.
Social media wasn’t a thing 15 years ago, but it has quickly become an integral part of our daily lives. We check our phone for retweets or reblogs as soon as we wake up in the morning, and it’s the last thing on our minds before we close our eyes at night.
I run from the word homemaker. I call myself a homemaking rebel.
Even though I shy away from the word, I know… I KNOW that having an organized home and life boosts my mental state in inconceivable ways.
“I’m so stressed. I have so many things to do.”
Nope, that’s not me saying it.
My five-year-old son rolls back and forth on our family room carpet. “MOOOOOMMMMM”.
Oh geez, this has nothing to do with how much he has to do. He’s 5. We don’t live on a dairy farm. His “so much to do” is filling his water bottle and putting his lunch in his backpack.
No, he does not have too much to do. I know what’s really going on. It’s what always happens in the morning.
My son wants my full attention. He doesn’t want me talking to his sister. He doesn’t want me to get ready. He wants my eyes completely on him and focused on his needs.
What do you do when your kid’s nagging gets out of control? They ask a question, you say no and yet they ask the same question five minutes later.
I’ve been there.
It started on Saturday with gummies…
What do we do when our kids refuse to do homework?
They fight us. They act defiantly. We know they need to do it but as convincing as we try to be, they fight even harder.
Carly, mom of a 10-year-old boy knows this well.
Each night she steels herself for the inevitable homework battle. Her son sits at the kitchen table where she tries to motivate him, encourage him… sometimes bribe with dessert.
But every night, he pushes back.
Ever walk in your house and become immediately overwhelmed with the stuff lying around?
Its bad enough when you have a kitchen junk counter stacked with 3 layers deep with kid’s artwork, random books and those gadgets for your door that you don’t want to throw away but you don’t really know how to install.
But then is all the stuff your kids leave laying in the living room or crammed onto the top of the family room game shelf.
Kid movies – that also entertain you as a parent – are almost impossible to find.
There are times when all I want to do on a Saturday afternoon is sit in a dark movie theater with my kids happily by my side.
But usually, that experience starts well and then 30-minutes in, my five-year-old son tells me he’s bored.
Or, I start mapping the plot points in the movie calculating when it will be over.
(Yes I think, here’s the rising action and this is the climax. We have 15-minutes until closing credits)
But, Wonder Park from Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon movies is a film that we all enjoyed. I highly recommend it.
