Forced Family Fun

"When you look at your life, 

the greatest happiness is 

family happiness,"

~Joyce Brothers 

I never remember saying that I wanted to be a mommy, yet I knew that I wanted to have children. Nobody is prepared (are they?) to become a parent, and I think back to the time of holding my firstborn in my arms and what a child I was myself at 23 years old. Even though I had babysat, it is no replacement for what to do and what not to do under certain circumstances. There is no manual and every child is different and demands a different parenting style. Micaela would throw tantrums as soon as I tried to get her into the cars seat. Her screams so fierce and loud it was as if I was murdering her. And then came Connor, who was calm and patient. Micaela started walking at 6 months of age, which was a nightmare with baby proofing and trying to keep her in the crib that she endlessly climbed out of. Connor, it was on his first birthday when he took his first steps.  Micaela likes her room messy, wears mismatched socks and rumbled shirts, and makes no apologies. Since the beginning of time, Connor has liked everything in order, color coordinated, and in militant order.  Every child is different, but joyful just the same. Yes, even during teething, colic and after curfew feuds. 

Because I was a single mom for so long, and spent a lot of time just trying to pay for the roof over our head by working full time and going to college, I instigated "Forced Family Fun".  When they were little, we would do it every other week, but as they get older it tends to be once a month, and/or during school breaks. No matter what, we schedule a day to do something 'fun'. It could be playing a game of Yahtzee, going to the movies, attending a museum, etc. And most of the time one of the kids would complain, but in the end we would laugh and have fun. 

Today was our Forced Family Fun Day.

Although I really wanted to go to the zoo, Michigan's weather turned on us with snow, rain and cold temperatures, so instead we ventured to Frankenmuth, Michigan.  Frankenmuth is called "The Little Bavaria" and is famous for chicken dinners and its small town charm. 

And since we didn't go to the real zoo, we pretended with the stuffed animals. Dumb? Sure. Magical? Absolutely. And just so you know, we didn't get kicked out of any stores.