There are days that my family benefits from breaking the routine. That was the case yesterday. My kids were having “one of those days”. The morning was a little rough Emma and Olivia kept fighting over the littlest things like, who gets to play with a certain color of playdoh or simply whining about not being able to put on their shoes when they usually have no trouble putting on almost every single day.
Then we set out to our regular story time and the girls were fine. As soon as we got home it was like they flipped the switch. Back to the fighting of who gets to wash their hands first and who sits on what side of the table for lunch. That’s normal right? To be honest, I had just about had it with both of them. I could not wait for nap time to reset.
While they napped. I got a little breather and decided we would switch up our routine for the afternoon. I packed dinner that consisted of BBQ chicken sandwiches. I had been cooking the chicken in the crockpot while we were out and ended up taking the whole crockpot with us to the park so the food wouldn’t get cold. I had to improvise. I put a bunch of snacks in a tote and realized until we got to the park I had forgotten the fruit and our side salad. Whoops!
That didn’t matter to Emma or Olivia because they were so happy to be eating outside and after dinner we walked over to the playground to get all their wiggles out. The afternoon was perfect. It was cloudy, but it wasn’t cold. It felt amazing being outdoors. I was able to stand back and enjoy the laughter of my family while we were there. It was just what we needed. We all needed that break. Sometimes a change of scenery benefits all of us and be able press the pause and reset button.
Trust me when I say this: being a mom comes with a lot of self-sacrifice and sometimes we find ourselves on wits end. I know, I’ve been there. I was there yesterday. Going out and getting a breath of fresh air can make a huge difference that allows all of you to let off some steam. Seriously, breaking the routine can bring out the fun in you. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. It allows you to be a little creative and your family will really enjoy it.
For now, I will be on a hunt for a picnic basket because I know we will have “one of those days” in the future and I will be ready to break our routine once again.
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