What makes you feel fully alive in your one wild and wonderful life?
Summertime is often a time to ‘get away’ as a family. We’re taking advantage of the season to get away as an extended family of 21 for a week! It is a marvelous opportunity and I am beyond grateful for the time together!
Whether you are getting away for a luxurious vacation or planning a ‘staycation’ long weekend, I hope you’ll breathe in the opportunity to create memories with your family this summer!
I have many childhood memories of travel and camping with my family of origin that shape how I enjoy getting away.
- Create experiences. Simple, out-of-the-ordinary experiences are the shape of memories. For example, there’s nothing better than a stick and a campfire because children’s smiles should occasionally be sticky with ice cream or marshmallows!
A stick and a fire serve as entertainment to manage the fire and trash, gives warmth after a day of play, offers hotdogs and marshmallows cooked by a child, and is an opportunity to flirt with a bit of danger! Besides that, the smell is delicious! It’s my memory!
As children, my siblings and I spent hours playing in the fire. The experience is indelibly etched on my mind. Children’s memories are filled with the simple experiences that break the mould of everyday life.
IDEA: At your next family meeting ask your children what they remember about last summer. I’d love to hear their responses!
- Connect with each other. There is a profound opportunity to connect when we step away from work and school! We ask questions about our futures and our experiences of the past. We reflect on our lives in the gentle meanderings of conversation like the bubbling of a creek.
IDEA: Use your family vacation time or a long weekend’s lazy afternoon to be curious about your child…
- What do you want to remember forever about the past year at school?
- What unit of study at school was your favourite and why?
- Who is your best friend and how did you become friends?
- Can you imagine a perfect day? What would it be?
- What is one word that describes your summer so far? Tell the story.
- Explore the world. Travel invites prayers of noticing. Is there an enchanted forest, a wild animal, or a mystical tree? What does the inside of the purple flower look like? What does the squirrel say? Can you hear the musical raindrops? What can you explore and learn about the world? What can you explore and learn about your self?
IDEA: Watch for your child’s persistence or courage in exploring. Make your prayers of noticing part of your conversation during travel.
- Document your experience. My family growing up was terrible at pictures. Kodak was the unseen stranger. However, we had maps and personal journals. We picked up brochures and rehearsed the symphony of our memories together.
The world has changed and we all hold in our hands powerful ways of documenting our journeys through life.
IDEA: Find a new way of creating a tapestry of memories this year. How can your children be in charge? Can you smash them, write them, create a book, tweet them out?! Be creative in how you document and share your experiences.
- Plan together. Connection can begin with conversation in cars. As we hit the road as children, the long hours on the highway included lengthy conversations about the future, usually the following year.
We planned annually and dreamt together. Dad and Mom led the way. We were invited to share too! We indulged in the magic of creating a memory in advance; we planned together!
IDEA: As part of your documentation, consider how you can include dreams and plans for the future. Hold the dream together in your hands. If it takes longer than a year, know it will only make its fulfillment sweeter.
Summer vacation reminds us all to enjoy our children more! Revel in their growth, their potential, and their energy!
Soak it all in…for soon they will be grown…
Blessings,
Karine