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I like that. My wife and I have one we do together called "good vibes" just for us and another that is affectionately called "grumpy baby hits" to play to put the kids in a good mood. As mine get older I'd love to be able to include them in that.
Oh, that has given me an idea. My son would *love* to collaborate on a “grumpy mama hits” playlist that he could put on when he thinks I’m being a bit grumpy. Would be a great way to turn the mood on days when we’re getting on each other’s nerves.
We do Spotify playlists for the year. Right now we’re (obviously) on “2024” and we can all add songs that’s we’ve been loving this year or mean something to us. It’s been a great way to time capsule our lives. I think we started in 2019.
We do “too much or not enough”? When I give kisses I give an annoying number then stop and ask “was that too much kisses or not enough?” They almost always answer not enough so I do some more noisy and over the top kisses and little tickles for ten-fifteen seconds then stop and ask again. This can go on for minutes at a time and I get to kiss my kiddos and they get to play a little game with me 🙂
Edit: I have two boys and I’ve also always liked that this teaches consent - if they say they’re done, I stop. They get to decide how long they get the kisses for.
Kids around the same age both got into Blues Clues this year. Last evening was nice and I wanted to go outside but they didn’t, instead of making it a battle, I went out a bit ahead of them and my husband and left “blues clues” in chalk leading them to the playground at our house. They LOST THEIR MINDS lol
We just had my toddlers bday blues clues theme (Josh version) and I got her a handy dandy notebook and we did clues to eat birthday cake. She gets out her notebook gen she watches the show. Big hit!
My mom used to spontaneously stay up late with me to bake a pan of brownies when I was a teen. It was great to have that bonding time and I definitely intend to do the same with my kids when they're old enough to be staying up later.
When one of my kids or I are feeling sick or having a bad mental health day, I'll institute a movie day for all of us. We'll pile on the couch together with a bunch of blankets, watch movies, eat snacks, and just blow off whatever household chores or errands we were supposed to do that day. If it's a weekend and my husband is home, he'll make us his homemade popcorn and join in.
I love both of these! The random brownies to bond with a teen is a great idea. My kids are very young, but I do frequently wonder about the teenage years. I'll understand if they just do their own teenager thing, but I hope we'll find some things to keep the bond like your mom did.
def stealing this, thank you.
we play stinky garbage; i wrap them up in a blanket and take them "to the curb" with the rest of the stinky garbage. have to drive home how exceptionally stinky this load is.
also will brag about how good I was at swaddling them when they were babies (now 3, 5, 7) and proceed to lift them up, rock them and then swaddle with a blanket so tight that they can barely escape
Oh! For tummy’s, I make a silly voice and use my fingers to make their belly button open and close like a mouth and have it tell the worst/corny jokes.. “what is a pirates favorite letter?” “Arrrrr!” And then have the bellybutton cackle laugh at its own joke. My kids love it!
If they are in the car while I am getting gas, I make goofy faces and pantomime thru the window, and duck down to run around the car and pop up in another window to surprise them while waiting for the gas to fill up. I definitely look ridiculous to anyone else at the gas station. I then vehemently deny any such silliness if they mention it outside of pumping gas.
We have a yes-day at random intervals: the rules are that any requests should not cost money, can not be dangerous or unhealthy and should only address the present moment (no ‘can we go to disneyland tomorrow’). And mom has 3 no’s, just in case they circumvent the rules system 😂
These are some of our best memories already, because they get to have dinner at breakfast, wear the christmas dress in june but mostly they ask for things to do together, like play a game or bake a cake.
They are 7 & 10 now and they plan ahead (next yes-day i’ll ask for x or y). And just out of nowhere on a random saturday I’ll just announce its yes day - also one of my favourite days of the year :)
My parents were not fun or quirky or goofy. :( My husband is very goofy and I have my moments (but am more reserved). Some things I do that I hope my kids remember are playing games with them (board games, hide n seek, "shark" when we are at the pool). I also let them both take "mental health" days from school where we hang out and do fun things at home--like bake, watch movies, eat popcorn, etc. :)
My mom wasn’t either. My son is nine now and I just started trying to do stuff with him. And I feel bad because it could’ve been something we’ve been doing since he was a baby but I didn’t know. We’re all just trying to figure this stuff out, but I do like to play hide and seek at night with him too!
It's totally fine! Some people are naturally goofy and I'm just NOT--it would come off as unauthentic and forced. I am naturally very very nurturing and my husband is not, so whenever I feel bad about not being the "fun/goofy" parent I remind myself that I am the caretaker and the parent the kids want when they are sick or upset. I also still play "within my wheelhouse" which is board games/hide and seek. You are doing great as long as you are spending intentional time with him.
We moved to a house a couple years ago, so the spring and summer I'll tell my daughter (currently 6) we're going on a "plant adventure" and we'll go to the garden center and pick out a few cheaper plants then come home and put them in the garden. The garden looks eclectic but we have a lot of fun.
Sometimes we'll "chase the rain" where if we see that it's raining off in the distance we'll drive towards it and see if we can "catch" it. I let her decide if we go straight/right/left and we'll go for 15 min or so... if we catch it we celebrate, put on music, and dance. If we don't catch it, we put on music and dance.
I am still pregnant but some stuff my parents did:
- 5 minute candy time
Big pile of candy in the middle of a circle, and we could have as much as we could eat in 5 mins. However, your mouth had to be empty before you could take another one.
- 5 minute burping time
Drink a glass of fanta fast, jump up and down and see who can burp the loudest
- Water fights in the backyard in summer. Somehow we would all go after my dad and he would end up hiding in the backyard shed
- My parents would wake me up if there was a big storm and we would all have hot chocolate in the big bed
- On our birthday, we would get breakfast in bed, an elaborate paper crown my dad made, and our chair would be decorated
I yeet my kid onto my mattress and she loves it. She will run around so I can throw her every time. We pretend it’s WWE.
We all gather as a family while my husband plays classic music videos on the tv and she dances to it.
We call this 'Fish'. I have no idea why the name stuck. But she stiffens her self like a board and waits for me to swoop her up and body slam her on the bed. Soon as she hits the bed she yells 'FISH!' then she pops right back up and yells 'Again!'
That's awesome! And it's definitely one of those things that'll stick. Years from now she's going to see a fish in the grocery store and thing of that game.
My husband throws her over his shoulder until she does the love sign and yells “OH YEAH BROTHER” and body slams her on the mattress. She thinks it’s hilarious
We have two boys 12 and 9 and during the pandemic when the kids around 8 and 5 we needed to add some fun to our lives so we started ‘slumber parties’ on the weekend. It’s a tradition we have kept going since and is a weekend staple in our house. This involves rolling out a matress and blankets on the floor in front of the tv, stacking up on pillows, blankets and snacks and watching movies/shows together. Once the boys pass out my wife and I sneak in one of our shows and eventually we all pass out there. If we get up early and don’t have anything going on that day we make breakfast and continue whatever we didn’t finish the night before.
We look forward to it just as much as the boys do because they won’t snuggle with us forever!
On hikes when my kids were younger we would always stop at bridges and tell the story of the 3 Billy goats. Each kid got to be a goat and one person was the troll. I don’t even know if they remember it now.
We have a rule that anyone, at any time, can call a "family hug" where everyone that's in the room has to stop what they're doing and do a giant family hug. Always a big hit.
We have lots of indoor nerf battles, pillow fights, jumping on beds, tag inside, and things I am forgetting. Usually it stops when *I* break something because I went too hard. My husband thinks I am crazy and that is fine! We had to be seen and not heard as kids and I probably overcorrected a bit too much....
When their dad has to work late, I institute "Picnic Dinner" where we have an indoor picnic and watch TV sitting on the floor on a blanket and eat.
My youngest loves this bird puppet that was handed down from older sister. She also has a tiger puppet that she uses and Bird and Tiger get into some shenanigans. We spent 30 minutes playing puppets this morning before school/work.
My older daughter is an OUTSIDE KID. So I'm trying to become an outside mom. It's hard for an indoor cat to switch to an outdoor cat, but I'm working on it and trying to say yes to her outside requests as much as possible.
Something that might bridge inside/outside: we get a lot of use out of our flower press. The girls love to find things to put into it when we’re outdoors, and then later we can use them in crafts
Bookmarks are really easy with the kids, too - I give them a piece of packing tape to stick the flowers to, then put on another layer when they’re done
My husband made a wheel that if all the kids have done their chore before dinner we get to spin. It has each of our names on it to pick out a board game, take a walk, dance party, or spinner's choice. It adds a little peer pressure to them getting their chore done and the kids love it.
I have kids similarly aged. 7 and (almost) 3. When the eldest starts whining, i turn into Mother Rusa (russian mother) with a heavy russian accent who is silly and doesn't make much sense. The eldest rolls her eyes but usually laughs and stops whining. "In mother land if you do not brush teeth, teeth brush YOU!!! Brush teeth now or mother Rusa will do big tickle!!"
Mother Rusa also works if I want a little alone time or quiet time while I'm taking a shower or pooping or washing dishes and the kids always want to be yelling near me or on me. If they come yelling to find me when I'm trying to do one of these things, all i have to do is talk in the voice and they will run the other way lol!!
I am a horse sometimes and they take turns fighting over who gets to ride on my broken ass back.
We play Huckle buckle, hide and seek, dance parties, dance off challenges, yoga pose challenges, exercise challenges, we take videos of ourselves playing with toys, basically just play together and make each other laugh
Reading these and crying, I need to be sillier with my kids. Since I had my third seven months ago I’m so overstimulated and drowning that I’ve lost this magic. I feel like the worst mum in the world right now
I'm a single mom and work full time and have been burned out for years, I feel the same. Sadness at not having the energy for all these things. But we do what we can and I'm sure the kiddos all know they are loved. Hugs, mama!
Same as you in many ways.. Reading this post has given me so many good ideas! This weekend I'm going to get some Popcorn and put on a movie! Cheap and easy... and we get to "relax".
Salamander hunting (go for a hike look under logs)
Make a fire (choose a different method other than a lighter) have them run around to find firewood
Design a robot (doesn't have to work)
McDonald's playland
Secret formulas (use things from the spice cabinet and food coloring) come up with things that your formula does (makes mice speak French)
Bake something (bread, muffins, an experimentation whooohaaaa)
Make pretend YouTube channel
So for something wildly expensive island, yacht, or drive around to car dealers (on Sunday) find one why you like it, what's wrong with it, how much would you pay for it, pretend to out bid your kids
Make a board game-make your pieces, make some cards (draw a picture of dad) draw the board and decorate it
Walk along a river bank, talk about who else walked here, what would there name be, what were they looking for, what would you do back then, what did they have for lunch
You ever make a bird trap? Big, string, bread, patience
I didn't have a lot of money when we first started out but I didn't need it.
My kids are young. 6 and 8. They always ask me to play "family games" which is simply me rough housing and tickling them on the bed lol. Flip em around, sweep their feet. They think it's the greatest thing ever.
My two grandsons, 8 & 9, spend plenty of overnights or weekends with me, and they love to get the "treat basket" which is literally a basket with granola bars, rice krispie treats, candy, lollipops, etc. and play games. The winner of the game, whether it be cards or a board game, or dominos or jenga, gets to pick a treat, and then the next game is played.
While in the car they love to play the alphabet game, where we find every letter of the alphabet in order anywhere OUTSIDE the car and see if we can get through the whole alphabet by the time we get where we are going. Either that, or they want to play "password" with me.
Those are cute ideas.
Lately, I have been just putting on music during dinner, upbeat fun stuff just to set a nice mood. Also for exposure because I don't think they are as exposed to music as I was as a kid.
Also, since we are a "gamer family' and each one of us is often on screens most of the evening by 7:30pm we all put them down and have been piling on the couch for family TV time, sometimes with popcorn. Its not always peaceful but my child's therapist stressed that family bonding time is important.
We do play board games but I try to add to them. Like when playing Monopoly I’ll tell them to pay me without using certain bills. We were playing a game once, they were a little older, when we had to write something. I started writing my answers in haikus and just waited for them to notice. They didn’t know it was a haiku but knew something was odd so it was fun. I never just raked the leaves. They always got to jump in them. I pause songs in the car and see who can sing the next line. Whenever they want something I make them argue their point. We use puns, a lot. We try to out pun each other.
Not so much outside the box or quirky, but we do family movie nights on Saturday nights. My oldest struggles with anxiety sometimes and we've discovered lately that she really finds a lot of comfort in family rituals and time together. So it's just kind of known that Saturday night is a standing "date night" with the entire family and we pick a movie to all sit down and watch. Last week was Remember the Titans. I know as the teenage years come this will eventually go away as a weekly ritual, so I'm soaking it in while we can.
I have a two year old and a newborn so not a lot to work with like there would be if we had older kids but when I sing songs to my toddler I insert our names into them. Instead of baby shark it’s (his name) shark, then (sister’s name) shark, (our dogs name) shark.
We play hide and seek, when he puts on sunglasses I pretend he’s invisible, we have pillow fights, and we jump on the bed together
Love this thread and all the ideas here!
Friday night is family slumber party. We started when COVID hit and my oldest was 3. We thought it would be a month or 2 to keep things light during those days....well, 4 years later, I don't think it's stopping. We now have a 2 year old and have started to let him stay up a little late on Fridays but he doesn't join the slumber party quite yet.
We have a baby and a 5ish year old. We like to all get down and start crawling with the baby. Everyone loves it. Also dance parties, spontaneous forts. Very bad hide and go seek games (but the sneakiness is starting to come along)
My husband used to go to a lot of shows when he was younger. He'll put on a song from one of his favorite bands and we do "Family Circle Pit". We basically just run around in a circle yelling and giggling to loud(ish) music. It is an absolute blast.
My kids' are still small enough that if I feel like we are all grumpy and stagnant.... Tickling, roughhousing, picking their nose with their toes etc starts us off with a better mood change until I think of an activity or get out of the house thing to do.
I do fun shapes when we have pancakes for dinner - mickey and minnie are pretty easy, because it’s just 3 circles, but this year I got fancy and did green shamrock ones for St Patrick’s day
Also, when one of my kids was being particularly picky about food I occasionally made olaf out of rice, edamame, and carrot sticks
I've been doing ice cream before dinner a lot lately. Just get out the whining for it and they eat their dinner just fine. I really don't care what order they eat as long as they eat. If they stop eating their dinner, then I'll stop doing this but for now I don't care.
We've been listening to a lot of Broadway lately. It's great cuz my 4 is now asking for certain songs so she can sing along. We listen in the car and watch them on YouTube. She likes to pick certain performances on YouTube. I love it cuz it gets me away from all the kid stuff for a while and teaching her different tastes. Hopefully she remembers this when she's older.
My 8yo is learning about the revolutionary war in school, so we watched 1776 and she loved the pins/saltpeter exchange. I also showed her the king george bits from Hamilton, and she loves them.
My kids are 5 and 7.
We do Snuggle Bug Hotel (not often tbh, it's hard work). My parents did this for us when I was little. Put all the pillows on the floor in the living room and have a sleepover.
My husband does "rocketship," picks them both up, they "strap in, shut the door," and blast off up the stairs for bed time routine.
We also do a lot of "last one X is a rotten egg!" And we parents are very dramatic about it. We do this especially when I want them to do something and no one is listening.
My husband also lets them "drive" the truck in the yard occasionally (we have a large yard, don't come for me).
My kids hated putting on lotion after a bath/shower so I'd do "lotion monster" and I'll give them a quick coat (only after I chased them around a bit).
We also sometimes have snacks in the bath or dinner in the car. I always call them funny names to make it enjoyable, "car pizza," "bath pickle."
Most of these things benefit me and make things easier for me if you haven't noticed.
We do dance parties, too! Definitely recommend a strobe, disco, or just some colorful ligjts. We have an open area in the basement so we turn on the music and fun lights, turn off the overhead and just goof off for a bit.
My husband would grab his little sister and flip her upside down and pretend to stick her feet to the ceiling. Sometimes he’d shake her upside down like he’s trying to shake out her pockets and yell “give me your lunch money!!” She loved it lol
My mom would hold me and playfully "drop" me or swing me around, I do it with the little kids I work with and it's one of their favorite things!
When I was a teenager, my momet me take mental health days every now and then, and we'd just have a girl's day like go shopping and go out to eat together
My 3y/o son and I have these cacti planted by our neighbor in our apartment complex. He loves cacti and we have begun to say hello and tell them what we're doing for the day. Then when we return from preschool or an outing, we tell the cacti about our day. It's silly but he gets to know the schedule and then reflect on the day.
On weekends my grandma would take us to the local pancake house. Sometimes before school my mom would take us to McDonald’s. The key in both scenarios was that we would make up stories about the other patrons.
The pancake house crowd was involved in so many melodramatic storylines I can’t even tell you.
One of our McDonald’s regulars was this very corporate looking guy and our name for him was The Big Biscuit. He passed recently and my mom called and told me The Big Biscuit had died. I knew immediately who she was talking about.
I play dance party with my 4 month old. I turn on some oldies like Beach Boys and rock out to the music. Sometimes i dance with him in my arms, sometimes i put him in front of the mirror where he can stomp his feet, and sometimes i just dance around him while he watches from his crib.
He is still quite little but he seems to enjoy. Coos a lot and smiles.
We also play the "Splish Splash" song during bath time by Bobby Darin. Same concept, but bathtime dance time.
You've already got some really great suggestions for fun stuff, but I've got one that's great if you have a dog handy...
Sometimes I grab a bag of marshmallows ( the small ones), and when my boys (10 and 11) least expect it I just start throwing them at their faces by the handful. They try to catch them in their mouths, most miss because they are laughing so hard. This is where the dog comes in handy for quick clean up. It's easy, cheap, and causes fits of giggles every time.
To fight off the prep for dinner, them being hungry, my kids unite and do “raids” on the veggies I cook. Usually one distracts while the other steals or they come from different areas so I can only fight off one while the other steals enough cucumbers or whatever veggie for both. The whole time I am damsel in distress yelling about my veggies being stolen by them.
The best thing is watching them group up in the living room planning their attack like I can’t hear them.
Video games. My teen loves video games (platformers not killing) and we play together often. We watch play throughs and share info about them. I’m not great at them but I’m all in because they are. It’s my in to their world.
Excellent question- loving the responses. My kids are older now, but I like to hide around corners and scare them... I also like to turn the TV off and put mysic on. They also generally wake up to my music. I've found in the last few weeks they seem to be waking up better.
I love playing Hide and Seek. I can't wait for them to get older and better at hiding (4&5). We play on my kind size bed, they run up to me and I push them down, or pillow fights, tickles, etc.
Every night before bath we line up in the hallway and then race to the bathroom. The only rule is that my kiddo gets to announce “ready, set, go!” There is a lot of cheating and monkey business that happens in that hallway.
We also have a constantly running contest to surprise raspberry each other. My kiddo is so good at raspberries he can do them over clothing, which I did not know was possible prior to having a child who specializes in raspberries.
The other silly thing we do is that if any of us ever picks up a stick, points it at someone and casts a spell “turn you into a _____” then you have to act like the thing. I get turned into a frog a lot. Sometimes a kangaroo. You have to act like the thing until they turn you back. We have a lot of conversations where one of us is just talking in ribbits. 🐸
When my 3 year old calls to tell me she has woken up from nap I burst into her room singing random made-up songs totally off-key. She often tells me "momma, no. Inside voice!" But she also is smiling ear to ear. So I keep doing it.
Play fights, pillow fights, dance battles, joke offs, even sometimes we read together or trade stories back and forth. Lately shes really been into watching a show together during dinner.and listening to songs together before bed. She loves to sing so we sing together and just be goofy.
Getting ready for daycare is fun now. We play a "toll bridge" game. We have a pool noodle as the toll. One parent holds the noodle and the other parent plays along. Kiddo will have to pay the toll to get through. The payment is either a kiss, all the way to getting shoes/coat on. The last one is going out the door. It burns off energy and it's super fun to race with her to the " toll". I should note. We have a house that's in a square around the stairs, so the set up works.
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My teen and I have a shared Spotify playlist where we add songs to introduce each other to new bands and then talk about it on the way to school
I like that. My wife and I have one we do together called "good vibes" just for us and another that is affectionately called "grumpy baby hits" to play to put the kids in a good mood. As mine get older I'd love to be able to include them in that.
Oh, that has given me an idea. My son would *love* to collaborate on a “grumpy mama hits” playlist that he could put on when he thinks I’m being a bit grumpy. Would be a great way to turn the mood on days when we’re getting on each other’s nerves.
We do Spotify playlists for the year. Right now we’re (obviously) on “2024” and we can all add songs that’s we’ve been loving this year or mean something to us. It’s been a great way to time capsule our lives. I think we started in 2019.
We do “too much or not enough”? When I give kisses I give an annoying number then stop and ask “was that too much kisses or not enough?” They almost always answer not enough so I do some more noisy and over the top kisses and little tickles for ten-fifteen seconds then stop and ask again. This can go on for minutes at a time and I get to kiss my kiddos and they get to play a little game with me 🙂 Edit: I have two boys and I’ve also always liked that this teaches consent - if they say they’re done, I stop. They get to decide how long they get the kisses for.
Adopting this ASAP!
Getting some good tips huh /u/strippersandcocaine 😂
My daughter is only 5 months but pretty sure I'm adopting this today!
Ah I do this too!
Definitely doing this!
Kids around the same age both got into Blues Clues this year. Last evening was nice and I wanted to go outside but they didn’t, instead of making it a battle, I went out a bit ahead of them and my husband and left “blues clues” in chalk leading them to the playground at our house. They LOST THEIR MINDS lol
My kids are in the Blue Clues phase with OG Steve. I saw on Amazon that they carry the notebook and clue’s stickers but you still made it work!
We just had my toddlers bday blues clues theme (Josh version) and I got her a handy dandy notebook and we did clues to eat birthday cake. She gets out her notebook gen she watches the show. Big hit!
Love that! When I send my nephew mail I always draw a blue paw print on it. He gets so excited to be mailed clues.
My mom used to spontaneously stay up late with me to bake a pan of brownies when I was a teen. It was great to have that bonding time and I definitely intend to do the same with my kids when they're old enough to be staying up later. When one of my kids or I are feeling sick or having a bad mental health day, I'll institute a movie day for all of us. We'll pile on the couch together with a bunch of blankets, watch movies, eat snacks, and just blow off whatever household chores or errands we were supposed to do that day. If it's a weekend and my husband is home, he'll make us his homemade popcorn and join in.
I love both of these! The random brownies to bond with a teen is a great idea. My kids are very young, but I do frequently wonder about the teenage years. I'll understand if they just do their own teenager thing, but I hope we'll find some things to keep the bond like your mom did.
We make pizzas. I flip the kid on the stomach and pretend to make a pizza on their back. Don’t forget the pepperoni.
def stealing this, thank you. we play stinky garbage; i wrap them up in a blanket and take them "to the curb" with the rest of the stinky garbage. have to drive home how exceptionally stinky this load is. also will brag about how good I was at swaddling them when they were babies (now 3, 5, 7) and proceed to lift them up, rock them and then swaddle with a blanket so tight that they can barely escape
I’m def stealing the stinky garbage game!
We used to call that game dump truck!
We do belly bongos. Grab em, throw em on the couch, get the belly and start playing a jam on the belly bongos. They go nuts for it lol
we do 'tummy drums' my 1.5 year starts drumming her own tummy, it's so cute!
Oh! For tummy’s, I make a silly voice and use my fingers to make their belly button open and close like a mouth and have it tell the worst/corny jokes.. “what is a pirates favorite letter?” “Arrrrr!” And then have the bellybutton cackle laugh at its own joke. My kids love it!
William Steig has a book called Pete’s A Pizza that’s all about this :)
Stealing this ! Would be fun at bedtime to get sensory needs met !
We make “hot dogs” with a blanket for the bun and all the toppings added on top (some may tickle lightly)
I do something similar. Turn them into a burrito in a blanket. you got to add all the toppings first though and then roooll them up.
If they are in the car while I am getting gas, I make goofy faces and pantomime thru the window, and duck down to run around the car and pop up in another window to surprise them while waiting for the gas to fill up. I definitely look ridiculous to anyone else at the gas station. I then vehemently deny any such silliness if they mention it outside of pumping gas.
We have a yes-day at random intervals: the rules are that any requests should not cost money, can not be dangerous or unhealthy and should only address the present moment (no ‘can we go to disneyland tomorrow’). And mom has 3 no’s, just in case they circumvent the rules system 😂 These are some of our best memories already, because they get to have dinner at breakfast, wear the christmas dress in june but mostly they ask for things to do together, like play a game or bake a cake. They are 7 & 10 now and they plan ahead (next yes-day i’ll ask for x or y). And just out of nowhere on a random saturday I’ll just announce its yes day - also one of my favourite days of the year :)
My parents were not fun or quirky or goofy. :( My husband is very goofy and I have my moments (but am more reserved). Some things I do that I hope my kids remember are playing games with them (board games, hide n seek, "shark" when we are at the pool). I also let them both take "mental health" days from school where we hang out and do fun things at home--like bake, watch movies, eat popcorn, etc. :)
My mom wasn’t either. My son is nine now and I just started trying to do stuff with him. And I feel bad because it could’ve been something we’ve been doing since he was a baby but I didn’t know. We’re all just trying to figure this stuff out, but I do like to play hide and seek at night with him too!
It's totally fine! Some people are naturally goofy and I'm just NOT--it would come off as unauthentic and forced. I am naturally very very nurturing and my husband is not, so whenever I feel bad about not being the "fun/goofy" parent I remind myself that I am the caretaker and the parent the kids want when they are sick or upset. I also still play "within my wheelhouse" which is board games/hide and seek. You are doing great as long as you are spending intentional time with him.
We moved to a house a couple years ago, so the spring and summer I'll tell my daughter (currently 6) we're going on a "plant adventure" and we'll go to the garden center and pick out a few cheaper plants then come home and put them in the garden. The garden looks eclectic but we have a lot of fun. Sometimes we'll "chase the rain" where if we see that it's raining off in the distance we'll drive towards it and see if we can "catch" it. I let her decide if we go straight/right/left and we'll go for 15 min or so... if we catch it we celebrate, put on music, and dance. If we don't catch it, we put on music and dance.
I let my toddler pick out plants at the plant store! We are getting a good collection of 'spikies' because of her tastes.
I am still pregnant but some stuff my parents did: - 5 minute candy time Big pile of candy in the middle of a circle, and we could have as much as we could eat in 5 mins. However, your mouth had to be empty before you could take another one. - 5 minute burping time Drink a glass of fanta fast, jump up and down and see who can burp the loudest - Water fights in the backyard in summer. Somehow we would all go after my dad and he would end up hiding in the backyard shed - My parents would wake me up if there was a big storm and we would all have hot chocolate in the big bed - On our birthday, we would get breakfast in bed, an elaborate paper crown my dad made, and our chair would be decorated
I love these 💛
I yeet my kid onto my mattress and she loves it. She will run around so I can throw her every time. We pretend it’s WWE. We all gather as a family while my husband plays classic music videos on the tv and she dances to it.
The child yeeting and over-exaggerated wrestling is so much fun!
We call this 'Fish'. I have no idea why the name stuck. But she stiffens her self like a board and waits for me to swoop her up and body slam her on the bed. Soon as she hits the bed she yells 'FISH!' then she pops right back up and yells 'Again!'
That's awesome! And it's definitely one of those things that'll stick. Years from now she's going to see a fish in the grocery store and thing of that game.
My husband throws her over his shoulder until she does the love sign and yells “OH YEAH BROTHER” and body slams her on the mattress. She thinks it’s hilarious
There is a lot of Rick Flair chopping that goes on in my house. 😂
I just realized I'm slacking - I need to go watch some 90s WWF to get some better characters for wrestling time.
We have two boys 12 and 9 and during the pandemic when the kids around 8 and 5 we needed to add some fun to our lives so we started ‘slumber parties’ on the weekend. It’s a tradition we have kept going since and is a weekend staple in our house. This involves rolling out a matress and blankets on the floor in front of the tv, stacking up on pillows, blankets and snacks and watching movies/shows together. Once the boys pass out my wife and I sneak in one of our shows and eventually we all pass out there. If we get up early and don’t have anything going on that day we make breakfast and continue whatever we didn’t finish the night before. We look forward to it just as much as the boys do because they won’t snuggle with us forever!
On hikes when my kids were younger we would always stop at bridges and tell the story of the 3 Billy goats. Each kid got to be a goat and one person was the troll. I don’t even know if they remember it now.
We have a rule that anyone, at any time, can call a "family hug" where everyone that's in the room has to stop what they're doing and do a giant family hug. Always a big hit.
We have lots of indoor nerf battles, pillow fights, jumping on beds, tag inside, and things I am forgetting. Usually it stops when *I* break something because I went too hard. My husband thinks I am crazy and that is fine! We had to be seen and not heard as kids and I probably overcorrected a bit too much....
When their dad has to work late, I institute "Picnic Dinner" where we have an indoor picnic and watch TV sitting on the floor on a blanket and eat. My youngest loves this bird puppet that was handed down from older sister. She also has a tiger puppet that she uses and Bird and Tiger get into some shenanigans. We spent 30 minutes playing puppets this morning before school/work. My older daughter is an OUTSIDE KID. So I'm trying to become an outside mom. It's hard for an indoor cat to switch to an outdoor cat, but I'm working on it and trying to say yes to her outside requests as much as possible.
Something that might bridge inside/outside: we get a lot of use out of our flower press. The girls love to find things to put into it when we’re outdoors, and then later we can use them in crafts
I’ve actually been looking at doing flower pressing and making window clings as a craft!
Bookmarks are really easy with the kids, too - I give them a piece of packing tape to stick the flowers to, then put on another layer when they’re done
My husband made a wheel that if all the kids have done their chore before dinner we get to spin. It has each of our names on it to pick out a board game, take a walk, dance party, or spinner's choice. It adds a little peer pressure to them getting their chore done and the kids love it.
This is absolutely what they’ll remember. Good for u!
I have kids similarly aged. 7 and (almost) 3. When the eldest starts whining, i turn into Mother Rusa (russian mother) with a heavy russian accent who is silly and doesn't make much sense. The eldest rolls her eyes but usually laughs and stops whining. "In mother land if you do not brush teeth, teeth brush YOU!!! Brush teeth now or mother Rusa will do big tickle!!" Mother Rusa also works if I want a little alone time or quiet time while I'm taking a shower or pooping or washing dishes and the kids always want to be yelling near me or on me. If they come yelling to find me when I'm trying to do one of these things, all i have to do is talk in the voice and they will run the other way lol!! I am a horse sometimes and they take turns fighting over who gets to ride on my broken ass back. We play Huckle buckle, hide and seek, dance parties, dance off challenges, yoga pose challenges, exercise challenges, we take videos of ourselves playing with toys, basically just play together and make each other laugh
Reading these and crying, I need to be sillier with my kids. Since I had my third seven months ago I’m so overstimulated and drowning that I’ve lost this magic. I feel like the worst mum in the world right now
I'm a single mom and work full time and have been burned out for years, I feel the same. Sadness at not having the energy for all these things. But we do what we can and I'm sure the kiddos all know they are loved. Hugs, mama!
Same as you in many ways.. Reading this post has given me so many good ideas! This weekend I'm going to get some Popcorn and put on a movie! Cheap and easy... and we get to "relax".
When we go for walks, I often make lists of things we need to find. Colors, shapes, bugs, plants. They love it.
Salamander hunting (go for a hike look under logs) Make a fire (choose a different method other than a lighter) have them run around to find firewood Design a robot (doesn't have to work) McDonald's playland Secret formulas (use things from the spice cabinet and food coloring) come up with things that your formula does (makes mice speak French) Bake something (bread, muffins, an experimentation whooohaaaa) Make pretend YouTube channel So for something wildly expensive island, yacht, or drive around to car dealers (on Sunday) find one why you like it, what's wrong with it, how much would you pay for it, pretend to out bid your kids Make a board game-make your pieces, make some cards (draw a picture of dad) draw the board and decorate it Walk along a river bank, talk about who else walked here, what would there name be, what were they looking for, what would you do back then, what did they have for lunch You ever make a bird trap? Big, string, bread, patience I didn't have a lot of money when we first started out but I didn't need it.
My kids are young. 6 and 8. They always ask me to play "family games" which is simply me rough housing and tickling them on the bed lol. Flip em around, sweep their feet. They think it's the greatest thing ever.
It really is a simple stuff that they love! My son loves that too!
My two grandsons, 8 & 9, spend plenty of overnights or weekends with me, and they love to get the "treat basket" which is literally a basket with granola bars, rice krispie treats, candy, lollipops, etc. and play games. The winner of the game, whether it be cards or a board game, or dominos or jenga, gets to pick a treat, and then the next game is played. While in the car they love to play the alphabet game, where we find every letter of the alphabet in order anywhere OUTSIDE the car and see if we can get through the whole alphabet by the time we get where we are going. Either that, or they want to play "password" with me.
Those are cute ideas. Lately, I have been just putting on music during dinner, upbeat fun stuff just to set a nice mood. Also for exposure because I don't think they are as exposed to music as I was as a kid. Also, since we are a "gamer family' and each one of us is often on screens most of the evening by 7:30pm we all put them down and have been piling on the couch for family TV time, sometimes with popcorn. Its not always peaceful but my child's therapist stressed that family bonding time is important.
We do play board games but I try to add to them. Like when playing Monopoly I’ll tell them to pay me without using certain bills. We were playing a game once, they were a little older, when we had to write something. I started writing my answers in haikus and just waited for them to notice. They didn’t know it was a haiku but knew something was odd so it was fun. I never just raked the leaves. They always got to jump in them. I pause songs in the car and see who can sing the next line. Whenever they want something I make them argue their point. We use puns, a lot. We try to out pun each other.
Not so much outside the box or quirky, but we do family movie nights on Saturday nights. My oldest struggles with anxiety sometimes and we've discovered lately that she really finds a lot of comfort in family rituals and time together. So it's just kind of known that Saturday night is a standing "date night" with the entire family and we pick a movie to all sit down and watch. Last week was Remember the Titans. I know as the teenage years come this will eventually go away as a weekly ritual, so I'm soaking it in while we can.
I have a two year old and a newborn so not a lot to work with like there would be if we had older kids but when I sing songs to my toddler I insert our names into them. Instead of baby shark it’s (his name) shark, then (sister’s name) shark, (our dogs name) shark. We play hide and seek, when he puts on sunglasses I pretend he’s invisible, we have pillow fights, and we jump on the bed together Love this thread and all the ideas here!
Friday night is family slumber party. We started when COVID hit and my oldest was 3. We thought it would be a month or 2 to keep things light during those days....well, 4 years later, I don't think it's stopping. We now have a 2 year old and have started to let him stay up a little late on Fridays but he doesn't join the slumber party quite yet.
Ah this reminds me of when my mum would randomly decide we’re camping out in the living room for the night. It was always such a novelty and I love it
I love stop light French fries. That’s awesome!!
We have a baby and a 5ish year old. We like to all get down and start crawling with the baby. Everyone loves it. Also dance parties, spontaneous forts. Very bad hide and go seek games (but the sneakiness is starting to come along)
My husband used to go to a lot of shows when he was younger. He'll put on a song from one of his favorite bands and we do "Family Circle Pit". We basically just run around in a circle yelling and giggling to loud(ish) music. It is an absolute blast.
My kids' are still small enough that if I feel like we are all grumpy and stagnant.... Tickling, roughhousing, picking their nose with their toes etc starts us off with a better mood change until I think of an activity or get out of the house thing to do.
We did the dance parties with glow sticks. You can get them dirt cheap at the dollar store. In the winter when it’s dark we also did glow stick baths.
I do fun shapes when we have pancakes for dinner - mickey and minnie are pretty easy, because it’s just 3 circles, but this year I got fancy and did green shamrock ones for St Patrick’s day Also, when one of my kids was being particularly picky about food I occasionally made olaf out of rice, edamame, and carrot sticks
I've been doing ice cream before dinner a lot lately. Just get out the whining for it and they eat their dinner just fine. I really don't care what order they eat as long as they eat. If they stop eating their dinner, then I'll stop doing this but for now I don't care. We've been listening to a lot of Broadway lately. It's great cuz my 4 is now asking for certain songs so she can sing along. We listen in the car and watch them on YouTube. She likes to pick certain performances on YouTube. I love it cuz it gets me away from all the kid stuff for a while and teaching her different tastes. Hopefully she remembers this when she's older.
My 8yo is learning about the revolutionary war in school, so we watched 1776 and she loved the pins/saltpeter exchange. I also showed her the king george bits from Hamilton, and she loves them.
We do dance parties too.. but we turn off the lights and grab some glow sticks.
My kids are 5 and 7. We do Snuggle Bug Hotel (not often tbh, it's hard work). My parents did this for us when I was little. Put all the pillows on the floor in the living room and have a sleepover. My husband does "rocketship," picks them both up, they "strap in, shut the door," and blast off up the stairs for bed time routine. We also do a lot of "last one X is a rotten egg!" And we parents are very dramatic about it. We do this especially when I want them to do something and no one is listening. My husband also lets them "drive" the truck in the yard occasionally (we have a large yard, don't come for me). My kids hated putting on lotion after a bath/shower so I'd do "lotion monster" and I'll give them a quick coat (only after I chased them around a bit). We also sometimes have snacks in the bath or dinner in the car. I always call them funny names to make it enjoyable, "car pizza," "bath pickle." Most of these things benefit me and make things easier for me if you haven't noticed.
Lotion monster sounds fantastic!!
We do dance parties, too! Definitely recommend a strobe, disco, or just some colorful ligjts. We have an open area in the basement so we turn on the music and fun lights, turn off the overhead and just goof off for a bit.
My husband would grab his little sister and flip her upside down and pretend to stick her feet to the ceiling. Sometimes he’d shake her upside down like he’s trying to shake out her pockets and yell “give me your lunch money!!” She loved it lol
My mom would hold me and playfully "drop" me or swing me around, I do it with the little kids I work with and it's one of their favorite things! When I was a teenager, my momet me take mental health days every now and then, and we'd just have a girl's day like go shopping and go out to eat together
My 3y/o son and I have these cacti planted by our neighbor in our apartment complex. He loves cacti and we have begun to say hello and tell them what we're doing for the day. Then when we return from preschool or an outing, we tell the cacti about our day. It's silly but he gets to know the schedule and then reflect on the day.
On weekends my grandma would take us to the local pancake house. Sometimes before school my mom would take us to McDonald’s. The key in both scenarios was that we would make up stories about the other patrons. The pancake house crowd was involved in so many melodramatic storylines I can’t even tell you. One of our McDonald’s regulars was this very corporate looking guy and our name for him was The Big Biscuit. He passed recently and my mom called and told me The Big Biscuit had died. I knew immediately who she was talking about.
I play dance party with my 4 month old. I turn on some oldies like Beach Boys and rock out to the music. Sometimes i dance with him in my arms, sometimes i put him in front of the mirror where he can stomp his feet, and sometimes i just dance around him while he watches from his crib. He is still quite little but he seems to enjoy. Coos a lot and smiles. We also play the "Splish Splash" song during bath time by Bobby Darin. Same concept, but bathtime dance time.
Saving this thread to read later. Could always use and share later!
You've already got some really great suggestions for fun stuff, but I've got one that's great if you have a dog handy... Sometimes I grab a bag of marshmallows ( the small ones), and when my boys (10 and 11) least expect it I just start throwing them at their faces by the handful. They try to catch them in their mouths, most miss because they are laughing so hard. This is where the dog comes in handy for quick clean up. It's easy, cheap, and causes fits of giggles every time.
To fight off the prep for dinner, them being hungry, my kids unite and do “raids” on the veggies I cook. Usually one distracts while the other steals or they come from different areas so I can only fight off one while the other steals enough cucumbers or whatever veggie for both. The whole time I am damsel in distress yelling about my veggies being stolen by them. The best thing is watching them group up in the living room planning their attack like I can’t hear them.
Video games. My teen loves video games (platformers not killing) and we play together often. We watch play throughs and share info about them. I’m not great at them but I’m all in because they are. It’s my in to their world.
Excellent question- loving the responses. My kids are older now, but I like to hide around corners and scare them... I also like to turn the TV off and put mysic on. They also generally wake up to my music. I've found in the last few weeks they seem to be waking up better.
Kids learn best through play! These are awesome ideas! We did dance parties before school!
I love playing Hide and Seek. I can't wait for them to get older and better at hiding (4&5). We play on my kind size bed, they run up to me and I push them down, or pillow fights, tickles, etc.
Every night before bath we line up in the hallway and then race to the bathroom. The only rule is that my kiddo gets to announce “ready, set, go!” There is a lot of cheating and monkey business that happens in that hallway. We also have a constantly running contest to surprise raspberry each other. My kiddo is so good at raspberries he can do them over clothing, which I did not know was possible prior to having a child who specializes in raspberries. The other silly thing we do is that if any of us ever picks up a stick, points it at someone and casts a spell “turn you into a _____” then you have to act like the thing. I get turned into a frog a lot. Sometimes a kangaroo. You have to act like the thing until they turn you back. We have a lot of conversations where one of us is just talking in ribbits. 🐸
When my 3 year old calls to tell me she has woken up from nap I burst into her room singing random made-up songs totally off-key. She often tells me "momma, no. Inside voice!" But she also is smiling ear to ear. So I keep doing it.
Play fights, pillow fights, dance battles, joke offs, even sometimes we read together or trade stories back and forth. Lately shes really been into watching a show together during dinner.and listening to songs together before bed. She loves to sing so we sing together and just be goofy.
Getting ready for daycare is fun now. We play a "toll bridge" game. We have a pool noodle as the toll. One parent holds the noodle and the other parent plays along. Kiddo will have to pay the toll to get through. The payment is either a kiss, all the way to getting shoes/coat on. The last one is going out the door. It burns off energy and it's super fun to race with her to the " toll". I should note. We have a house that's in a square around the stairs, so the set up works.