Just Heather :: Family Fun

Jul 19, 2009 | Filed Under: Family Fun, Growing Kids

I am the mother of 3 girls. When I first heard I was having a girl, I didn’t envision pink ribbons and curls. I’m more the purple streaks and funky hats type of girl, myself. I never quite felt like I fit or really knew where to belong. Growing up, I was always told that if I wanted to support my expensive taste I would need to marry a doctor or lawyer. No one ever told me I could be one. I was determined to empower my girls to be whoever they wanted to be. I think we all strive to do just a little bit better than the generation before us. For me, that meant giving my children choices I never had myself. While I have fond memories of Barbie, Cabbage Patch Kids and Strawberry Shortcake, I didn’t want to streamline my own daughter into any specific stereotypes.

Stacia - my official preteen

I made an extra effort to buy our oldest daughter Tonka trucks, Hot Wheels and boy dolls to balance out the Disney princess, Barbie dolls and fancy hairpieces everyone else threw her direction. Stacia didn’t turn out to be a tomboy, but she isn’t a girly girl either. She landed somewhere in the middle. Mission accomplished. Stacia has a style all her own—a little funky, sometimes wannabe punk with interests ranging from baking to motocross. Her latest fashion craze was mismatched holiday socks (but only if the holiday wasn’t any time soon). She reminds me a lot of myself, actually—which is probably why it’s a struggle to get along.

Brenia at Scout camp

My 2nd daughter came along and had all the same choices. Her life included attending her older sister’s soccer games and a ride-on motorcycle mixed with frilly clothes and a dress-up trunk. She couldn’t have cared less about trucks and hasn’t voluntarily worn a pair of pants in 4 years. Brenia announced at age 2 that she absolutely must have dresses because “princesses do not wear pants” and no amount of Aladdin-viewing would change her mind. This is the child who randomly appears in our scrapbooks wearing fairy wings or giant faux pearls and wears a skirt to go camping.

Lorelai at Touch-A-Truck

On the other hand, our youngest is the son we never had. Except, remember I have 3 girls? She has always been fascinated with trains and trucks. I can bribe her at the grocery store with a $.97 Hot Wheels car and have perfect behavior (sometimes). Her fashion phases run to colors. One year, she would only wear green. It didn’t matter what it was so long as it had green on it. However, a tomboy she is not. Her color of choice this year? Pink—in every shade imaginable. She enjoys frilly dresses. She loves princess movies. Lorelai will don a tiara and heels to ride her Thomas the Tank Engine around the house.

Snakehead Ed

I think the choices they’ve been given have left them free to become who they are. Each of my girls comes with a style all her own. They have personalities that run the spectrum. Their interests are varied and plentiful. All three of them are just as happy with snakes as kittens. These girls enjoy trucks as much as ballet and often dig in the dirt with their fresh manicures. Our summer of fun has included all of those, so far.

Touch-A-Truck

The event that best showcased the lack of gender lines in our house was Touch-A-Truck. We went specifically for my two biggest truck fans—Lorelai and my nephew—but Brenia had just as much fun. Of course, the highlight for her was running into a school friend. Lorelai loved it all and buckled herself into each of the drivers’ seats. Levi’s favorite part was touching a “big wheel,” followed closely by the “firefrucks” and “woo-woos” (otherwise known as police vehicles) both featured in my new favorite home video:

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#23. Let my kids eat cotton candy at the fair.

Jun 08, 2009 | Filed Under: 40x40, Family Fun

When I was a kid, we went to the carnival every year around the 4th of July. There were rides, games, cotton candy and lemonade shake-ups (which I hate but everyone else seems to love). As I got older, I realized that what carnivals really had were rickety rides, scams, dyed sugar and overpriced lemonade. As I like keeping my children safe, avoid dyes & processed sugars and generally refuse to waste money on overpriced anything, my girls have never been the fair. They have, however, been to Indiana Beach many times. That’s kind of like a carnival, right?

When I set about writing my 40×40 list, it was all about things I want to do but never really have the time, money or opportunity. The someday project isn’t about obligations. It’s about finally making dreams come true. Because my children’s dreams are also important, I have included two items on my list that I don’t personally care to do. Ever. However, I desperately want my children to have these memories. So, during the last week of school, when I saw a sign in our local shopping center advertising a carnival, I immediately added it to the summer fun list and started getting excited about crossing off another 40×40 item. I think I was more excited about the idea than the girls.

Of course, the overpriced part of the equation was still a problem for me. Funds are tight these days and throwing money away at the fair, even for a good reason, doesn’t sit well with me. That’s when I remembered that the neighborhood yard sale was happening the same weekend. I decided to put together a small yard sale in hopes of raising enough to pay for an evening at the fair. The girls had listed “have a yard sale” on their summer fun list so we got to cross off two items this weekend. Three, since the girls had their annual lemonade stand in conjunction with the yard sale.

We made enough off our junk to cover dinner at Steak ‘n Shake, a few rides at the carnival, the requisite cotton candy and one game in which Lorelai accidentally won a fish. Quite ironic, since we had just gotten rid of our old fish bowls in the yard sale. Luckily, I found another fish bowl that had a previous life as a crystal ball for Stacia’s 9th Arabian Nights birthday party. The fish has apparently been named Five, though I have no idea why. That is, however, the cost of the bucket of ping pong balls she used to win him.

The girls chose the Octopus, Gravitron (aka Megatron, according to Brenia) and the Ferris Wheel to ride. I also talked Lorelai into riding the Super Slide with me, though on the way up I distinctly remembered why I stopped riding fair rides. We all survived and the girls declared it their “best day ever” so it was definitely worth the rickety climb to the top of the slide. Brenia has made the Best Day Ever declaration every day this summer. Even though we’re just now starting the second week of summer, I am declaring the summer fun list a complete success.

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More Summer Fun

Jun 01, 2009 | Filed Under: Family Fun

Today is the first day of summer vacation. I am excited to have the girls home, even as I dread the constant bickering. We have big ideas, a schedule of activities and plans. I have a lot of exciting things coming for me and my series of projects too. As as spin off of my own 40×40 project and inspired by The MacLeods I am starting a new to-do/dream list.

I have enlisted the help of my girls to create a list of things to do this summer. By the end of July, I’ll have a standard list of things to do before school begins—eye doctor, new backpacks, buy clothes & shoes, stock-up on lunch supplies—but this one is about experiences, not tasks. Some are simple (and already planned); some will require a bit more effort (not to mention a larger budget than ours).

I’m hoping it will keep us entertained over the next few months, add a new dimension to our relationship, create lasting memories and teach the girls some valuable lessons. They’ll learn about realistic goals, how budget is a factor and that it’s okay to fall short sometimes. They were quite ambitious (they didn’t get the memo on the no travel thing) so we obviously won’t get to everything, but I think we’ll have a lot of fun along the way.

Creek stomp. (AKA Play in the mud.)
Go to the fair (double bonus—it’s also on my 40×40).
Play outside in the rain.
Water balloon fight.
Color with Blendy Pens.
Have a big sleepover.
Get a kitten.
Design & create shirts.
Hula hoop.
Fly a kite.
Have a restaurant.
Go to Indiana Beach.
Visit the in-laws lake cottage more. (Hubby’s goal: 5 trips)
Start Sunday Suppers, hosting various friends & family for dinner each week.
Teach the girls to ride a bike with no training wheels.
Go to Holiday World.
Have a picnic.
Go to Florida.
Go to North Carolina.
Visit all Indiana’s surrounding states.
Swim in the dark.
Go to Maddy’s house.
Go to Georgia.
Go to Six Flags and Medieval Times again.
Go to the library.
Go to the movies.
Have a yard sale.
Have a lemonade stand.
Walk to the playground at least once each week.
Shop at yard sales.
Make crafts.
Jump rope marathon.
Feed the ducks.
Build a sandcastle.
Grill pizzas again.
Have a movie marathon.
Visit the Farmer’s Market.
Make homemade ice cream.
Play board games.
Teach the girls how to play Four Square.
Run through the sprinkler.
Celebrate a random holiday (Go Skateboarding Day doesn’t count; he does that already).
Go to camp.
Pick apples & drink apple cider slushies at Stuckey Farm.
Take friends to the Children’s Museum.
Plant a butterfly garden.
Build a living room tent.
Have a PJ day.
Eat lunch outside.
Scrapbook our summer of fun.

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