Results of Challenge #3: Family Traditions
Family
The wonder was…will
Answer: YES, but four in a week is a bit much:)
I am going to start with a confession. We tried two of the four ideas and celebrated with one of the traditions we already have in place. I hit a point where I was trying to cram four new traditions into a week and decided to carry two over to this week to make sure they were meaningful to us and not just something I was checking off the list for this challenge. And I am so glad I made that change because the two we did were so fun! But first, we had to celebrate with our current family tradition.
We had one SOLID family tradition before starting this challenge. On your birthday, we go out for dinner and order DESSERT FIRST! We have done this for a few years now. And the part of the tradition that makes it so great is the anticipation of the dinner! Since this was my birthday week I got to have my DESSERT FIRST dinner this week. The week consists of constant questions about, “When are we doing your birthday dinner? Where are we going to go? What dessert do you want? What game will we play?” (We always bring cards when we go out to dinner.) We love this tradition. We all get excited to go out to dinner and giggle as we tell the server we want our dessert first.
When I took on the challenge of finding new family traditions I realized that the anticipation of the event/tradition was what I was looking for. Something we enjoy doing together that we look forward to. Something that sticks and has a date on our calendar. Something that allows me to say, “Sorry, it’s a tradition!” when my kids think they are cooler than their parents, clearly a naive phase, and try to get out of hanging out with us.
We started by creating a list of four new traditions we wanted to try. We tried the first two and will do the other two next week. Apparently taking on four in a week was a bit much:)
The new traditions we tried…
1. Joyful January
2. Indoor Camping Night
Next week…
3. Thanks for your Service
4. Time Capsule
Joyful January
The purpose was to surprise some friends with some January Joy. The kids decided to fill bags with treats that all started with a J.
Jolly Ranchers, Jelly Beans, Junior Mints, Jerky, and Juicy Fruit. The shopping, sorting, and decorating of the bags
The introduction to DING DONG DITCHING! That’s right. We teach ’em young:)
We piled into the car with our Joyful January bags and set out to drop the bags off at the door, ring the doorbell and peal out of the driveway. THIS part was so fun!
The nervousness of getting caught. Watching the kids sprint back to the car and dive into the back seat. The look on my husband’s face as he drove off thinking he was Bo Luke from the Dukes of Hazard. We LOVED it.
Then, the texts and phone calls saying thank you came in. Friends told us that their kids were excited, that it was a fun surprise! We even managed to scare one family on accident and had a good laugh after.
This is the part that I love. Knowing that for one moment, we made someone else smile. We were all in agreement to continue with the tradition of spreading January Joy.
Indoor Camp Out
This is a must do!
When we mentioned the idea of doing an indoor camp out to the kids they exploded with excitement. We created a menu together and headed to the store.
The menu consisted of:
Dinner of hamburgers and hot dogs
Ripple Chips & Top the Tator (Addie)
Spicy Buffalo Chips (Joey)
Smores & Popcorn
Coke in a Glass Bottle
The second the kids got home from school they started setting up the tent. Both kids had a ridiculous amount of blankets and stuffed animals.
We blew up the air mattress for Nick and I. There were also a few other amenities that we would not have brought with had we been outside.
You’ll notice BB-8 was with us all night protecting us from this vicious bear!
Finally, we snuggled in and watched one of our favorite movies, Jurassic World, another treat. And being able to have access to a nice bathroom and being able to sneak up to bed at 10:30 when we discovered our air mattress was leaking was also a nice bonus!
We ended the night with an attempt at some scary bedtime stories. Mom and dad also woke up nice and comfy cozy in our bed:)
Challenge #4: Minimize the Drop Zone
I wonder if minimizing our drop zone will help us feel more organized?
Have you tried any of the challenges or used the free download of the Wonder Workbook? Send me an email at marnie@marniepauly.com and I can help hold you accountable to trying something new! Don’t forget to tag me with the #52WeeksofWonder if you post anything! I would love to see and/or hear how you are implementing the 52 Weeks of Wonder!
