Yesterday as I succumbed to the chore of writing my family’s weekly grocery list, I felt a sense of defeat as I wasn’t able to create a plan for any new, different or creative meals to serve. Lately, I’ve been feeling like my motherly creative juices have been at a stand still and our life has been well, less than exciting (hence my lack of creative topics to blog about). Maybe it’s the sweltering summer heat or the sheer exhaustion I feel at the end of the day, but I’ve seriously been lacking in the fun and exciting department. I’m out of ideas and patience for not only creative meals, but am also having trouble inventing cute new craft projects to keep my daughter occupied. Lately our adventures as a family have been limited to a kiddie pool in the back yard. With the much anticipated start of school I’m sure I’m not the only mom who is just plain out of ideas.
The real concern I had about my new found dullness is….have I turned into a boring mom??? My kids and husband don’t seem to think so and are totally happy, but I feel like I’m stuck in a parenting rut and even a trip to the grocery store (to buy the same ole’ food) is a thrilling adventure. But, I can’t help but ask my formerly adventurous self…
How do our lives as parents come to this point and why does it make us feel so…well, crappy??
Is the same routine, day-in and day-out enough to keep our kids and engaged and stimulated??
To remedy the situation I decided to learn from who better than my children! While I’m busy wracking my brain for ideas for another overly exciting day my daughter is more than happy playing with Play-doh (AGAIN) and is satisfied eating grilled cheese sandwiches every day (I promise I haven’t hit this low yet). While, in the grand scheme of things these little adventures seem so monotonous, they are a HUGE deal to my little children and bring happiness and novelty to their day! They don’t need fancy new outfits, Pinterest inspired crafts or gourmet meals to feel love and excitement. The stress of keeping every moment of every day engaging and perfect to my standards is totally self-inflicted and isn’t what makes me a great mom in my children’s eyes. So, recently when I’m out of creative dinner ideas or my daughter wants to “do something fun,” I’ve found the very best solution is to let her choose something she really enjoys (within reason, of course). I’ve started giving her the luxury of helping to choose what we have for dinner once a week (with careful guidance) and asking her what she wants to do as a fun activity. I’ve been surprised at some of her simplistic choices, and in the process I’ve really lightened my parenting load a great deal. She finds the greatest pleasure in having chosen some of the aspects of her day. The sheer joy on her face when I allow her to choose a meal, activity or outfit renews my soul as a mother even though I still have no idea what I’ll be fixing for dinner in the next few days.
