Creating a Memory To Jump Over

I once had a very wise friend with grown up children.  Upon looking at their child-rearing days I was so impressed by all the fun things and great adventures they had as a family.  When I asked them about how they cultivated so many memories they said their goal was “to create so many memories as a family that their children would have to jump over each one in order to turn their back on their family values.”  That has stuck with me for years now.  I remember walking away from that conversation and thinking I want our kids to feel that way.  So we, as a family, have set out to do that.  We want to create memories with my kids that bring them back, years from now, to the values and character traits we taught them as a child.  Which is why we do crazy stuff like this….

While this picture is bizarre enough that it could make a round-up on Huffington Post of Awkard Family Photos, and embarrass Tim and I for years to come, that is okay. Because what my kids will remember is not that it was cold outside and we froze for 30 seconds to take these pictures (a tripod and a friend snapping away helped with the quick time).  They will remember that mom and dad willingly did something crazy and different as a family.  They will remember how much fun we had, how silly our family can be.  They will remember that dad got teased at work for such a stunt but that he didn’t care.   Our family memory we created was worth it.

Because you see, you have to take advantage of moments like this.  They are not always there.  At age 8 and 6 they think this is the most wonderful thing our family has ever done.  At 18 and 16 they wouldn’t be caught dead doing this with us.  But believe me when they are 18 and 16 I will most definitely bring this picture out 😉

So is our family crazy?  Absolutely.  We are crazy about each other and are willing to do things outside of our comfort zone (brrrr!) in order to capture something in our hearts that will last a lifetime.

Just another memory our kids would have to jump over.