Independence Day loomed hot and muggy. We've been so scattered with all the camp and trek hoopla that we decided to just lay low. We did a little work and had some mandatory family fun.
My children have had a severe lack of water fighting in their lives. So we planned a sneaky attack on Shaggy.
He was doing some gardening in the back yard. The kids kind-heartedly brought him some water to quench his thirst and I pretended to be taking some group pictures.
And then they attacked.
All in the name of helping him cool off, naturally.
I wish I could say that a wonderfully fun and chaotic water fight ensued, complete with lots of laughter.
But no, sadly that isn't how it played out. B was scared and just wanted to drink her water and stay dry. R wailed when someone dared to get her wet. J screamed. And S got mad and stomped into the house. Epic fail.
But after everyone had scattered, I thought about how ridiculous their reactions were. How can I send these children into the big, wide world when they haven't yet learned to be good sports during a water fight?
So we dragged them back outside in the name of mandatory family fun. We're mean like that. We roll out this mandatory family fun when their attitudes leave much to be desired. We explained that the water fight would continue until everyone was actually having fun. Anyone getting someone else wet, had to be willing to also get wet, and with grace. Our only exception was little B, because all the crazy shouting and running around really did scare her. So she was off limits. But everyone else was fair game.
We had to work through some more grumpiness. Drag kids back outside a few times. But eventually, it worked and we had that wonderfully fun and chaotic water fight, full of laughter.
By the end, we were all soaked and quite cooled off. Maybe next time we won't even have to force them into it. But rest assured, we will if we have to. Mean parent award. Bring it on.
The rest of our day was filled with ice cream, and games; wall climbing and explosions (thankfully not of the emotional variety).
These explosions were the diet coke + mentos variety. And they were a huge hit. The pictures tell a better story than I could.
Maybe next year we'll go see some fireworks. But for now, our homemade geyser and mandatory family fun was enough for me.
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