TGIF! It is Fun Friday, celebrate your week!

Raising kids with LOVE ♦ January 18, 2013 ♦ 2 Comments

It is Friday, my favorite day of the week!  A day that brings me “ahhh” moments as I breathe after a busy week.  I am sure that you say, “Breathe?”  “My Friday and Saturday is like my Monday!”  Sometimes it can feel that way when you have small children at home.  Every day you say the same things, “Don’t Touch!” Do the same things, fix the same food, change the same diapers, and wipe the same little noses.  It is easy to slip into a routine of just being.  It really is not much different when children are older…or at any point in life.  Sometimes we just live without really living.  So as is tradition, this morning I texted my 4 kids the traditional TGIF!  The older 2 girls have had busy weeks of work, graduate school, and business travel to New York.  The younger 2 have had busy weeks of college classes and study (I hope).  But my TGIF is a reminder that it is “Fun Friday” at the Love house, and hopefully they will stop and enjoy today just because.  

Since the kids were young, we have celebrated Friday.  When I say celebrate, I mean that we hooped and hollered, had snacks, ate pizza, maybe even by candlelight, and I had a glass of wine.  I am not sure how the celebration started, but I do know it has become a tradition.  There is something about Friday that is fun!  When the kids were very young, it was the expectation that the routine may change a bit on the weekend.  Brad would be home, and there was more family time.  As the kids got older, the anticipation of a couple of days without school and the school routine was exciting for all.  Now Friday brings special flavored coffee saved only for Fridays, a slowdown from work, extra time with Brad and maybe even a few weekend plans.  But Friday always includes a mini celebration.

The love of Friday soon brought “Over the Hump Wednesday”.  Many times that was our night to grab a fast meal out, or I just reminded the kids with a note in their lunches that today was 1/2 way through the week to “Fun Friday”.   There were weeks that we had Marvelous Monday, Terrific Tuesday, and Thrilling Thursday.  I guess there were weeks we celebrated every day  just because….

I think as parents you do have to celebrate “just because”.   As you are raising a family, sometimes life can seem like every day is the same.  As a Mommy and a Daddy, your life often is focused on the next diaper change, homework assignment, soccer practice, or music lesson.  None of these activities are bad, but sometimes life becomes a whirlwind of activity with little time for enjoying the moment.  Kids need to learn how to celebrate life and parents need the celebrations.

So even today I woke up with a little anticipation of a day that celebrates the start of the weekend.  I hope my kids did too, and I hope that when they are raising families of their own they will celebrate “Fun Friday” in their homes too.

Break out the frozen pizza, maybe even pour yourself a glass of wine, light a candle…..it is “Fun Friday”.

Take a breath, enjoy the joyful moments of each day, and remember you don’t have to be perfect to be the perfect parent.

Cindy