Fun Friday – The family that plays together

I’m a fan of the saying, the family that plays together, stays together. However, I didn’t know this saying would be a part of my Thanksgiving dinner. When my mom invited my brother and I over for dinner, I took a dish to pass. Once I arrived, I realized I should have taken a rake.

Some families get together during the holidays to have dinner. Our family got together on Thanksgiving to rake leaves. If my mother had sent out an invite, the small print would have read, come prepared to do chores after dinner.

When my mother said she wanted us to help clean around her house, I thought she was joking. As it turned out, the joke was on me. After dinner, we bundled up, grabbed a stack of leaf bags and began our task.

It was just before dusk as we stuffed bag after bag with sticks and leaves. After filling a few bags, we took a break to toss some of the leaves into the air. Thus began the fun part of gathering leaves. My teen son wanted to get the task done, but my brother humored me and took part.

Almost every time I get together with family something funny develops. I’ve learned to accept the quirkiness of my family as part of who we are. We could probably change, but why?

 

What fun things have you done with your family lately?

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Thanksgiving

YouTube Video Credit: bluemountainecards

 

 

YouTube Video Credit: americangreetings

 

 

 

Muffins with Mom - The shopping trip – bonding with a teenager

A mom (me) as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

How do you bond with a teenager…? Do something that he likes to do. In our case, my son and I stumbled upon an unplanned bonding moment. It was a typical Sunday afternoon when my son and I ventured out to our local discount retail store after church.

There were only a few items on our short list of things to buy. Our main quest was for a pair of long johns for my son. While in the men’s department we discovered something amusing. There was a section of Superhero pajamas that were Onsies – a one piece pajama minus the closed foot.

As I circled the clothing rack, I tried to imagine someone lying next to a full grown Superhero. Keep in mind this was not the children’s section of the store. Feeling quite silly, I told my son to try on the Batman pajamas.

Right there in the middle of an aisle, my son slipped on the Batman pajamas over his clothes. And we took photos. It was not enough that he looked silly, he wanted me to look silly too. So I stepped into a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pajama set. We snapped more photos.

 

 

 

We shared our photos with my son who is away at college so that he could experience a piece of home life. Often, our bonding times involve stepping out of what is considered to be the “norm”. We explore our silly side, even if it’s in the middle of a public place.

In addition to being silly, the shopping trip with my son opened the door to other conversations. We talked about school, football workouts and whose turn it was to pick a movie to watch after dinner. Every day does not include a bonding moment, but that day was classic.

What kinds of things do you do as part of the bonding process with your child?