The apple and the tree

 

Dear Ethan and Reese,

This is your dad and yes, he is doing a cartwheel. Why? Because it's FUN.

Your dad is on the other side of 40 years old, which means he's an adult, but he still acts like he's a kid. This is a very good thing.

How did your dad get so good at PLAY? Lots and lots of practice.

Your dad will always say YES to playing with you, in the backyard, in the pool and with every board game and lego set you own in the basement. (All 200 plus of them, legos, that is.) When he is not playing, he is singing songs and making us all laugh. He's got a great smile, you see it everyday. And if you make him laugh, you've made his day.

You might be thinking, well, that's just dad, that's who he is. But there's more to it. That inner spark, that PLAY that is so your dad is also inside YOU!  It's in your genes, passed down from generations. Don't believe me? Just think who your dad got his sense of PLAY from?

 

That's right, your grandpa Ralph, another PLAY FULL and funny guy!!!

If there is anything you can learn from cartwheels and balloon hats, it's that there is a lot of PLAY to be had in this life.

So go PLAY, have some FUN and let's not let the apple fall too far from the tree.

xoxo
Mom

Riddle me this, Batman

"Rules are boring!" That's what my kids said one day when I told them I wanted to create a set of house rules for our family. And to be clear, to them, rules weren't just boring, they were SO BORING!

Yes, yes, I had to agree, sometimes, rules were boring, but I didn't think our rules would be.

"Ours can be different." I told them. "Think curious, quirky, zany. They're our rules, so really, they can be anything we want them to be."

My kids weren't convinced. Heads down in their video games, both were quiet for what felt like a real, long while. And then, my son, Ethan spoke, again.

"Can they be FUN?"
Reese's face light up at the request and joined in. "Yeah! We want FUN!!"

Fun, hmm...and that was it, the moment, the inspiration that bubbled and perked inside my head and became this blog.


So, riddle me this Batman and fellow crusaders who dare: can rules be FUN? Let's find out together!!!

Welcome to <our house rules>.