Monday Missions: a simple idea to add a little magic to your week.
Well, it seems like several of these missions include eating and walking. Two of my favorite things! But something we have loved doing this spring is walking (or biking) to get dinner or a little snack.
We are lucky enough to live in a very walkable area. So, we can walk downtown to dinner, which we have been trying to do at least once a week. We also walk over to a local college for frozen yogurt. There is something about walking before and after you eat that ritualizes the whole experience and makes it more memorable.
When my kids were younger, we spent a month in Paris and I remember looking out from my balcony and seeing families walking home from late dinners, arm in arm, so relaxed and present with each other. I knew I was witnessing something great, something that I wanted to try to recreate with my own kids. And now that they are older, we are embracing this new habit.
However, even if you do not live somewhere where walking to a restaurant is possible, maybe you could walk to a convenience store. That might sound horrible - but I have had magical times, just walking up to a 7-11 and buying an ice cream. Or walking around your neighborhood and saying, "yes" to the kids selling the super sweet lemonade for a quarter.
By combining a journey with a meal (especially with children), we can turn a normal chore of life into an adventure.
Does this resinate with you? Do you walk to dinner often? How does it work with your family?
This is a great mission. I love this. We don't live in the best walkable area but we do have places we could walk to ... might be possible this year now that the girls can keep up, as we learned in Philadelphia. Those girls can walk! We have a convenience store that is fairly close and a Chinese restaurant. I think we'll give this mission a try when the weather turns back into spring! Thanks for the idea. I love your missions!!
ReplyDeletethank you! we used to walk to this dusty, dingy latin grocery store. the kids always wanted a guava pastry - and while i do think they were very good - it is one of their best memories. it is all about the journey!
DeleteSince arriving in the D.C. area last week, we have done this daily. I love it. The kiddos are acclimating to a life of walking everywhere. Our last neighborhood plus the weather made it tough at times.
ReplyDeleteI love DC! Kids for the most part seem to love city living. so much to look at and smell and taste!
DeleteAbsolutely. All about the journey, like she said. It makes dessert into such a meaningful treat.
ReplyDeleteTurning a normal chore of life into an adventure is a wonderful idea - thank you so much for sharing it at Happy Family Times :-)
ReplyDeleteWe will have to try this out ourselves!
Sometimes, when it's not too hot here in Florida we'll walk to the grocery store or to McDonald's for a treat (though, McD's is more like once a month or once every two month type thing) or to the park. All are about a mile away and I like it because it makes my 4-year-old son pretty tired by the end of our trip. We don't really have anywhere nearby for dinner though only fast food, we'd have to go several miles for that.
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