As I may have whined about a time or two on here, my daughter is getting ready to move into her own place. I’m not ready, there are still so many things I want to do, so much that I’m sure I missed, I want to go back and have a do over.
Our kids grow up so quickly one day you are elbow deep in diapers and the next they are in kindergarten and before you know they’ve graduated and are getting on with their lives.
Well, it may be too late for me to do that but it’s not too late for some of you. I recently read an article about bucket lists for parents, basically a “Before they leave me list”. This is a list of things you would like to do with your children before they are too old to want to hang out with you. You can put anything on the list, it’s just for you so make sure you write down some silly things too. I think as a single mom this list is really important, we are so busy day in and day out that it would be nice to have a list to remind us of things we want to do with our kids.
The ideas really are endless, I didn’t have a bucket list per se, but I wanted to go to Disneyland before Hailey was too old to enjoy it with me. I took her when she was 15, now that may not be an optimum age to take you kid alone to Disneyland, I had already stopped being cool, but we still had fun.
We’ve also taken road trips to California and Las Vegas, those were some of the best times. Your list doesn’t have to be comprised of things that cost a fortune, go camping, just you and the kids, or roast marshmallows over the fire pit in the back yard and tell scary stories.
Remember to let them be kids, you may have big dreams like visiting another country but imagine how fun it would be for your child to build a fort in the family room with you and camp out there in sleeping bags. Let your daughter paint your nails and do your make up. Teach your son to climb a tree. Whatever they like will be a memory they will always cherish.
What would be on your parental bucket list?