31 Days of Intentional Parenting {Day 11} Surprising your children (and yourself)

As mothers we often have the responsibility of the daily discipline, rule creating/enforcing, and other not-so-fun aspects of a child’s life.  In our home, while my husband does do all of the above, I am the primary caretaker and educator (as I am blessed to be an at home homeschooling mother) so my children often equate Daddy with the good times and Mommy with the reality check.

 At first I was somewhat resentful of this, until I realized that as the primary caretaker, I also had the power and opportunity to shake things up a bit and bring on some surprises that would REALLY impact my children since they especially didn’t expect them from me.

What makes this different from our day 3 challenge is the element of SURPRISE.  The key is to do something that your children are not expecting you to do.  If you are the nutrition police then maybe serving cake for breakfast will really turn their world upside down (and yours).  If you have a thing against video games then maybe joining your children for a day at the arcades (or on your home video systems) will shake things up.  Sometimes we need a jolt of the different to appreciate our normal routines.  I’m not asking you to do anything dangerous. But while parenting is serious business—-we don’t always have to be so serious when we are trying to develop trusting relationships with our children and know their hearts.

Pajama Day
Wear your pajamas all day

Let them eat cake
Have cake for breakfast!  This is also the way we celebrate birthdays in our home.

Backwards day
There is a great book that inspired this for our family that is fun to read with younger children. Essentially backwards day can be what you make it.  Wearing your clothes backwards, eating your meals in backwards order, etc.

Spend a day with your children where everyone tries something new—-maybe even every hour!

The best time to employ this is when you are on your way to something you normally would do (ballet, baseball, school, a playdate etc) but you take a surprise detour.  I have a friend whose kids thought they were going to school and she drove them to Disney World for the day instead!
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Please visit the other ladies participating in 31 Days of Ministry Online at A Woman Inspired:

• Amy Bayliss – 31 Days of Heart Matters
• Dawn– 31 Days of Encouragement
• Jen – 31 Days of Social Media
• Lisa Boyd – 31 Days of WordPress
• Karen Lewis – 31 Days of Praise
• A Martha Heart – 31 Days of Prayer

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