What My Kids Have Taught Me
10 life lessons I've learned this summer
Today my five year old daughter starts kindergarten. In a couple of weeks my three year old son starts preschool (3K). Like most parents, we’ve been busy getting school supplies together. We completed our searches to find the lunch boxes and water bottles that they like the best. All their outfits are washed and ready to go.
Last week at their “meet the teacher” visits they wanted to stay and have lunch. They didn’t want to leave. Needless to stay they’re excited to go.
Am I ready for my daughter to be in school all day? Can I believe that my son is old enough to go to preschool? Well of course not! But what other choice do I have?
Time doesn’t stand still. I’ve come to terms a long time ago that instead of trying to fight it or slow down time, I have to embrace it and use it the best way possible. Being together and doing things as a family is the best use of the most valuable commodity we have, time.
Here are ten life lessons I’ve learned from my kids this summer.
Don’t wait to do things. This summer we went to Disney World, zoos, playgrounds, stayed over at a farm for a weekend, went to Airbnbs, a Brewer game and hopefully more that I’m forgetting. I want to share experiences and memories with my family. After seeing what the Pandemic has done, I’m not sitting around and waiting to live life. We’re going to have fun and make memories together. You shouldn’t wait either!
Be fully present. The hardest thing for me to do when we had kids was to get away from my phone and disengage from the unimportant things. You only have so much time with your kids each day. Now I’m trying to cherish and be fully present when I’m with my family instead of checking for sports, business and stock market updates on my phone.
Take picture and videos. We laugh and have fun looking at our videos and pictures of us doing things in the past. A memory can fade or be forgotten. Pictures and videos can make that memory last forever.
Schedule your personal time when your kids are asleep. I like to workout, read and write daily. These aren’t things that my kids or wife can share in doing. So I schedule to do these things while they’re asleep.
Pay to have things done that suck away your time. Paying someone to mow our lawn has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. The return on freed up time is well worth the money. Add up all the time you’d save by paying someone to do this. What price would you pay for a few extra freed up hours a week? You can thank me later.
Make time with your spouse. Be sure you make date night with your spouse one night a week, if at all possible. A dinner without kids, having an adult conversation becomes very relaxing and important. Who knew before having kids that this would be so important and something you’d actually look forward to doing. It is, so plan it!
Take them to a nice dinner with you. Being around adults and exposing them to a controlled atmosphere is eye opening and a great learning experience for kids. At first we were hesitant to take them but it’s an excellent time to share as a family and they’re also getting to see adult conversations and etiquette.
Ask what they want to do. We try to tie in things our kids like to do with things we like to do. For example, if we want to go to a nice restaurant somewhere and they want to go to a playground we will go to a playground before we go to dinner. Everyone ends the evening happy.
Have playdates for the entire family. Getting together with another family not only lets the kids play and have fun but it allows the adults to talk and relax. It’s really a win win for both the kids and parents.
Say both no and yes. Saying no let’s you know what and how much they want something. It allows you to surprise them at later date with that item or adventure. The surprise generates way more excitement than if you say yes at the exact moment they ask for something. This also works great with your spouse!