Fun times!

I can picture the scene . . . it's a rainy afternoon and mother and daughter are in the living room, sitting on the floor together, playing blissfully with a favorite toy . . . baby son looking on from his bouncy seat, gurgling happily . . . then the activity moves into the kitchen . . . time to make chocolate chip cookies! Flour flies everywhere and no one cares . . . lots of laughter . . .

And I can tell you, that's not me! I am a Type A mom on a mission, and it seems that there is always something that needs doing. One project or another needs my attention, so I am often splitting myself between watching the kiddos, making dinner, folding laundry, and sewing something or other.

But I do want to be the cool mom. I want our house to be THE destination, where everyone wants to come after school because there's always a full cookie jar. Not the house that everyone avoids because "their mom is crazy . . . she's super uptight!"

So once in a while I try a little harder to be that mom. I bake with Sophia in matching aprons and ignore the mess that I'll have to clean up later. I sit down on the floor while we build the tallest tower we can. I hold Jude and talk to him for a few minutes instead of folding laundry. I know it is important to have those times, but always niggling the back of my mind is my to-do list, so they don't happen as often as I would like them too.

Yesterday was one of those afternoons. Sophia woke up on the wrong side of the bed from her nap, but instead of having a terrible tear-filled afternoon, we had fun! Out came the $5 canvas from Big Lots, along with the finger paints the Snuggler got for her birthday. An hour later we had a painted canvas, and a painted Sophia . . . and smiles! We emptied those tubes of paint, man, and no one ever had more fun doing so.

Then it was up to the tub for the bubbliest bubble bath ever, and by the time that was done it was time for dinner. Time really does fly when you're having fun! I think it was a gift to both of us, to really enjoy each other's company. Of course, poor little Jude is just an observer for now, but soon enough he'll be in on the fun, too.

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And of course, don't forget to become a follower of my blog so that you can be automatically entered to win a jar of homemade strawberry jam on December 1st!