I can honestly say, there are some days when I just feel like I am a horrible mother. And I know I'm not alone! The days when I've said more harsh words than kind, when I've spent more time engrossed in email or Facebook or the Real Housewives than in the action happening in my own home, when everyone and everything just drives me crazy. And those are the days when I need to be reminded that parenting, and life, is a gift.
Recently I saw a post about the 30 Day Mom Challenge, and as the name implies, it's a series of 30 tasks, or challenges, for moms to take on. And since I am one of those people who likes a challenge (and a theme!), I've decided to take on the challenge.
Interested to hear more? Visit www.imom.com/pages/30-day-mom-challenge and try it out for yourself!
We're going to spread the challenge out and post one per week. So are you ready to be challenged?
30 Day Mom Challenge Day 1—Ask: "What is one thing we can do together this month?"
One thing that we can do together in my family is to play together. I always loved to play board games or other card games with my sisters and brother when I was growing up. I know that when I was my kids' age, I was quite adept at Yahtzee, but my kids are more familiar with Mario Kart. So I'm going to get down and have some old-fashioned fun with them, in the form of board games, card games and puzzles.
First, we taught the kids to play War with a deck of cards. Is there an easier game? It was a rousing bit of fun and after a few hands, the kids ran off to continue the battle. We made up our own rules as we went, and it was fun for my husband and I as we discussed the War rules that we followed as kids. I also put out a 1,000 piece puzzle on the coffee table and we all took turns working at it. It stayed on the table for about a week, until we realized that a few key pieces of that puzzle were claimed by the vacuum … now that puzzle is going to be repurposed into something else!
We also played board games, from Sorry to Blokus and a few others in between. The biggest problem with board games in my house is that the kids often run off with the pieces and incorporate them into their own games, creating random landscapes of misfit toy pieces. Points for creativity, but it does make it difficult to play those games next time!
Did you try this challenge? What did you plan to do together?
