The lazy family

Yesterday I threw the biggest tantrum. Even today, I feel my stomach in a tight knot. My level of frustration reached an ultimate high with the girls because I wanted to do something special with them and have fun, and instead they whined and whined because they didn't want to go. It frustrates me to see how all the families we know- rich and poor - take advantage of all the things around us, and we consistently JUST STAY HOME! During the week we work and work, and by the time the weekend comes around we waste the days just doing chores. Work hard? We sure do, but play hard? Not so much...

We are lucky in that we get to go on vacation or short trips couple times per year, and many people don't even get to do that. But I don't want to live my life looking forward to just a few days out of the year. Although I would love for it to be warm and sunny all year, I am doing my best to embrace as many winter sports as I can so we don't have to hide at home from the weather - at least not because of me. But while many kids were out and about all around the neighborhood looking for places to sled, my kids sat around and asked to watch TV. Their reason? They didn't want to wear those big [snow] pants. By the time we finally got out of the house it was to do chores; return one thing here, and go buy food there. Those are our family outings: Go out to eat, or go buy food. No wonder why more often than not I find myself going shopping for "fun". That is one thing I can certainly do by myself without having to beg for someone to come with me.

And why do I even have to try new things, you may ask? Well, because I don't want to wake up one of these years and realize that I no longer have energy to do things I should have done when I could. And because I want my kids to take advantage of how damn lucky they are by having a mom that tries hard, and is able and willing to help them experience new things.

Maybe one day we will change our ways. Maybe one day somebody other than me will want to go ice skating again, or bowling, or tubing, or to a museum, or to practice some tennis or hang out by the pool at the gym. Maybe one day - God forbid - we will even do a spontaneous day trip...