Good morning, Mommy. Go play! I’m beggin’ you, Mamma. It’s Saturday, have some fun, laugh, make memories!
At dinner last night (on a rooftop restaurant downtown, tailor made for memory making) our kids talked about when I would put on Dionne Warwick’s “I Say a Little Prayer For You” and we would dance in the kitchen. “I loved that,” said my daughter. “I remember that!” said our son, who is now 6’1″, “that was fun!”. (And, thought Mamma, it was free, and we didn’t have to drive anywhere to do it, and I DO pray for you.)
I think back to the times I used music in our lives – what a powerful tool in Mamma’s arsenal of happy-family-making. Music changes emotions. In the morning to start the day right; in the evening to elevate everyone’s energy; I even used music (Rascal Flatt’s “Life Is A Highway”) to let them know it was time to leave for school, so much better than running through the house screaming, “IT’S TIME TO GO”.
So. Today. Memories. Someday, when you are out to dinner with your alarmingly adult children, what do you want them to think back and remember about growing up with you?
Today, no iPad. Today, no games on phones. Today, no TV.
Today, music. Free concert in the park, a pots and pans band with wooden spoons, dancing in the kitchen to a great old song?
Today, outdoors. Park, pool, zoo?
Today, move. Go for a hike at a state park, walk around that lake near you, build sandcastles at the beach.
You are making the memories. You are building their childhood. You are re-enforcing the bonds that make family close. You don’t get close just because you share blood, you know, you need to have shared experiences.
Life is short, and they are young for the briefest time imaginable; go play.