Every Parents Must Have Bucket List

Collect moments, not things. -Anonymous

One day as I sat snuggled up with my babies overly stressed about the never ending housework it just hit me. I wasn’t taking advantage of everything life had to offer for my family and myself. Sure, I always talked about doing things and going on adventures. Did I ever really follow through? Nope! Why wouldn’t someone create and follow out their dreams? There’s just not enough time, finances in shambles, overworked, the list goes on. Truth is, what holds us back can wait, life won’t. I’ve compiled a list of things I think every family should do. Go ahead and take a peak and steal some ideas, I dare ya!

1. Bake your favorite treat or cook your favorite meal. Get the whole family involved in the process from picking a recipe, grabbing the ingredients, putting it all together and enjoying! I strongly suggest enjoying it over a family game night, just for added fun!
2. Garden. Even if space is limited you can still carry out this fun indoors! Hit up your local stores and grab some seeds and get messy. This is an ongoing family fun activity as you get to watch it continue to grow.
3. Arts & Crafts. Everyone knows how glitter hangs around forever, but the memories of making a masterpiece are no different. Enjoy a day of glue sticks, googly eyes, and paint. You’ll get to showcase it as decor when you’re finished.
4. Go camping. Load up the truck and go explore some of the most beautiful sites the world has to offer. Just don’t forget the bug spray!
5. Book the vacation. Just do it. Don’t listen to your bank account that says otherwise. It doesn’t need to be extravagant like Disney. You can book with a water park hotel for under $150 a night in most areas. Honestly, you’ll all have just as much fun either way!
6. Build a fort. This one is free and tons of fun! Dig out those extra blankets and let your imaginations soar!
7. Learn magic tricks. If you know any, share them. If you don’t have any tricks up your sleeve there are tons you and the whole family can learn and practice. Make a day out of astonishing each other.
8. Go picking. Head out to your local farms to pick fruits and vegetables. Grab anything from strawberries to pumpkins.
9. Step away from technology. This is a fun one. Take a break from it all. Your kids will notice how much more present you are when you aren’t taking pictures to capture the moment. You’ll learn a lot about each other in this activity and gain an overflowing amount of memories to cherish forever.
10. Random act of kindness. Donate your time to a local shelter or food pantry. Stick a bag of popcorn on a Redbox. Drop coupons off near the item in a store. Write a letter to someone about how important they are to you. Simply put, brighten someones day. In doing so, yours will be just as bright.

You’ve probably noticed that these are all fairly small and maybe you’re thinking they’re too small to appear on a Bucket List. So ask yourself, when is the last time you did any of them? If it was recently then you are rock! If not, then I believe they are more than deserving to be on a Bucket List. The idea of starting small is so you can build up the ambition to follow through and check off the bigger items. Besides, no matter how big or small the the plans the fun will be massive.

I guess that leaves me with one question. What sort of fun day are you planning for your family?