25 Things To Do With Your Kids Before They Are Grown
by Gina Meyers
I'm a perpetual list maker. I get a great sense of accomplishment when I get to mark something as done on my list. I told this to an interviewer one time, I didn't get the job and she didn't understand my "can do" and "mark off the list" attitude.
My closet has about seven large poster-boards or "vision/dream boards". Occasionally, I flip the large poster-boards over to see the other side.
For me, it is a great sense of accomplishment when I complete something on my "list". It feels like I've done something. Let's face it, a year of being cooped up and not being able to do our regular activities. I for one am grateful for the "renewed sense of freedom" but am cautiously optimistic as we are still "unable to do a lot of normal activities" including visiting relatives oversees, which to me is a huge deal! Hopefully soon we will have this pandemic at bay.
With that aside and back on track to vision boards and lists....
I am a firm believer in "list making" not to be confused with "honey do lists" and DREAM Manifestation tools. Heck, for the past twenty years, I've had this article on my fridge that is entitled: 25 Things to Do With Your Kids Before They Are Grown.
My daughter who is 24, about five years ago, said, "hey mom", I'm pretty sure we've done everything on the list--except "snow skiing". My son who is seven and a half years his sister's junior got the privilege of skiing once, I think he liked it too about three years ago. I would have taken my daughter as well, but the opportunity didn't present itself.
Why makes lists? Why create vision boards?
As Yogi Berra said, "if you don't know where you're going, you might end up some place else."
One of my all-time favorite quotes from Zig Ziglar is: "Don't be a wandering generality, be a meaningful specific."
Though this quote is about the sovereignty of God and how he never changes and how us humans think we know better about everything. I think this quote has a lot to do with making plans. If you don't have a plan--then as Yogi Berra said, "you might end up some place else."
Isn't that what happened to Dorothy in Wizard of Oz? She thought she was escaping her current circumstance by landing in a foreign land, only to realize that she was the same person. When she desired to "go back home", her plan started having legs. She started helping those around her and realizing that the lessons she learned back home were the lessons of kindness, honesty, hard work, dedication, and truth.
Zig Ziglar's Goal Setting Guide
So let's click our heels together and brainstorm on what your goals are for making a list? If you are not a parent, personalize the list for yourself. Categorize the list with mental, physical, social, spiritual, emotional benefits of the activity on the list.
Keep in mind we are all in human school 101 and so the question you need to ask yourself and your children is.... what am I hoping to learn? OR ..."what I am hoping to teach my child?" (What life lesson if you will are you hoping to learn or teach?) Please keep in mind LIFE teaches us lessons even when we have lists and plans.
There is a quote that I love and it is from John Lennon and it is: "Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans."
25 Things To Do With Your Kids Before They Are Grown
1. Take them to a drive-in movie
2. Make smores on a barbecue or in a fireplace.
3. Watch a fireworks display/show.
4. Take them to the library (hopefully more than once).
5. Take them to a museum.
6. Take them on a sailboat.
7. Take them to a concert.
8. Take them ice skating.
9. Take them to the beach.
10. Have them bake.
11. Have them cook.
12. Teach them to swim.
13. Teach them to tie their shoes.
14. Teach them to fold, iron, and wash laundry. (Not in that order).
15. Teach them to roller skate.
16. Teach them to ride a bike.
17. Go in an airplane.
18. Make sure your children know how to answer the phone, how to speak properly on their cell phone.
19. Take them to a national park.
20. Take them to a public park.
21. Take them to the zoo.
22. Plant a tree, make a vegetable garden, plant flowers or seeds and watch them grow.
23. Go to a theme park.
24. Go on a picnic.
25. Sleep out under the stars.
There is so much more to see and do, this list isn't complete, it's a start....
Just remember:
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose."-Dr. Seuss
