Every Friday, the Little Bliss List provides a chance for us to celebrate the little things that brought us hope and happiness this week. I do believe when we focus on the sweet stuff of life, the sweet stuff multiplies. And by sharing those small gifts in our lives, we help others notice the gifts in theirs.
Yesterday, we tried to manufacture bliss – and failed miserably. Brad and I thought it would be fun to have a “Super Happy Fun Day” with our kids, inspired by some family friends who do the same thing with their now-grown children. They all reserve a day and drop everything to do fun things and go fun places together. To host our own version, Brad took yesterday off work so we could go to the Minnesota Twins game and The Minnesota State Fair. First, we all slept in {which made this mom and dad super happy} and then, he made pancakes, which the kids love.
I would love to tell you the rest of our Super Happy Fun Day was perfectly blissful.
But, instead, I have a confession: much of the day sucked corn dogs. It was blazing hot and our kiddos wilted pretty darn fast, collapsing into complete meltdowns before we even found our game seats. One staffer came up and asked if we needed first aid for Tru; that’s how hard he was crying. Brad and I just kept shooting each other looks of disbelief; how had our Super Happy Fun Day fallen apart so quickly?!
Eventually, the boys calmed down {snacks helped A LOT} and we got to enjoy a few innings of the game…
We stayed for a few innings, then headed to the fair. We walked in the blazing sun to lots of spots we thought the kids would LOVE, only to find they were underwhelmed and overheated. Do you know where they spent the most time? In a sandbox! Despite on-and-off whining and pouting throughout the day; I did manage to capture a few big smiles, too. Proof that it wasn’t that bad, right?
We pulled into our garage late last night – two exhausted kids and two equally exhausted parents. As Brad was getting Ryder ready for bed, he had a light bulb moment, realizing we’d made a classic mistake in planning our Super Happy Fun Day: “We made the day about doing lots of things, instead of about just being with each other.”
Ohhhhhh. Right. That’s how to have a Super Happy Fun Day.
So…where and how did you find bliss this week? Leave a comment or write about it on your own blog and leave a link below through MONDAY at midnight central.
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