When given this creative outlet to share about life as a wife, mother, and woman of God, I was extremely excited and honored. Thirty years as a wife and twenty-six as a mom have given me countless life experiences to draw from. I also have a love for a good story. Throw in a bit of symbolism and a teachable moment . . . I am hooked.
I am also a lover of a good recipe, so I find myself researching new ways to present old favorites. Unfortunately, I also have a short attention span. Weeding through the entire “story” of how someone developed this new idea often results in me giving up before I make it to the information I wanted.
Our lives are busy. We want the quick dinner recipe, but we don’t want to wade through the muck to find it. We search out the quickest, most efficient way to do almost everything. I have discovered, however, that life is fast and once we get on the “Busy Highway,” it’s hard to find the offramp.
I want to share with you five practical activities that will help you slow down, find the backroads, just take the scenic route, and occasionally even stop off to see the sites. Buckle up friends, here we go.
- Start your days thirty minutes earlier. Moms and/or dads, reset your alarm clocks. Take your time in the mornings, talk to Jesus while you make your coffee. Sit down with that cup of morning deliciousness and your Bible. Get yourself ready for the day before you wake up your children. Have a quick breakfast with your children at the table or the bar – cereal is quick, y’all. Have a bit of devotion or prayer time. Find your rhythm. What works for your family? The idea is to set the tone for the day.
- Quiet the car. Car rides are a perfect time to interact with your kiddos. I found that “pick up” was a perfect time of day for learning what you need to know about what is happening in the life of your child. I know it isn’t practical for everyone to pick their children up from school. The idea is to take advantage of all of our “down time.” So, turn the radio off, tell the teenager to put his phone down, the younger ones to put down the tablet. Use what you already know about your child to start a conversation. Go deeper than “did you have a good day?” Try, “How was Mr. Smith’s class today? What did you talk about?”
- Eat dinner AT the table, together. I understand activities. There were months and even years that we were only home one night a week. Make that night count. You may be a parent that can be home to make a meal from scratch or one that hits the driveway on two wheels with takeout in the seat beside you. It doesn’t matter. Fine china or paper plates. It’s the time together, chatting, laughing, and problem-solving that your family remembers and makes the greatest impact. Try it for one month. Every night that you can, have dinner at the table. I guarantee it will change the dynamic of your home.
- Create crazy traditions. The day my son started school, of course, made me cry. How could my little man be old enough to leave his mother and sit in a classroom with a stranger for 8 hours. I mean, come on! He was so much more ready for that transition than I was. When I picked him up, the stranger told me how well he did, so I wanted to make that day a special one. We went for ice cream. We sat and laughed while this little five-year-old MAN told me all about his day. This became something we did every first day of school. As my daughter went through college, I sent her money for ice cream on her first day of class. This August marked her third year as a school counselor; each year money was sent with a note for ice cream and a good day. Create the crazy and watch it grow into the beautiful.
- Explore the day. This one can be really fun but could very well take some out of their comfort zone. Me! I am that somebody. Thankfully, my husband is a bit more adventurous and spontaneous than I am. An example of one of our “exploring days” went a little like this: We let the offspring sleep until about 9 a.m. one Saturday. We all dressed in comfy clothes and headed out. We live at a crossroad, so we let them decide which way we were to go. Every stop sign brought on this same decision. We drove all over South GA that afternoon and ended our day grilling hamburgers at a park. Our children, now 26 and 24, still talk about this day. We did several other exploring days. Some were short picnic lunches at a lake in our hometown. Some were longer drives to a seafood festival on the coast. Some were just riding four wheelers near our home. The trick is to have no agenda. Just let the day unfold as it will. You will never regret the time you spend with your family.
There are countless ways to engage your children in everyday life. These are only a few ideas to consider. One thing that always happened during all five of these activities . . . we at some point learned something new about each other. Some topic would arise and my son would take the lead in encouraging his sister, or she would give him some incredibly sage advice about a problem. You never know how kind, considerate, wise, and amazing your children are until you take a second to enjoy WHO they are. We see what they can do in activities that create the “busy,” we discover who they are in the activities that create relationships.
Written by: Betty Ann NeSmith. Betty Ann lives in Boston, GA with her husband, Payton.
