You need the routine to get to the fun...

Having fun is truly a difficult feat when you are a mother, wife, sister, employee, housewife, and - geeze - you get the picture.  I try to be impromptu - sometimes.  I try to "go with the flow" and not schedule everything, but that doesn't really work when you are juggling the responsibilities of a household.

So, I randomly decided - Let's go to the park!  My daughter clapped her hands.  Said, "I am so excited, mama!" and we jumped in the car.  As we arrived at the "Castle Park," we talked about all the kids there enjoying the unseasonable 65 degrees in February.  We jumped out of the car, and ran to the equipment.  Soon there was jumping and sliding and trying to hang off of "stuff."  Then we finally got up the nerve to go to the big slide.  And I mean the BIG one.  You have the climb up two tiers to get to this fantastic ride.  Once at the top, my daughter kneels down to get on the slide, makes "the" face, and says "I have to go potty!"  

Are you kidding?  It is February at the park in Missouri - most of the time the water for the fountains isn't even on yet.  There are no bathrooms nearby - except the grocery store.  So I convince her to come down the slide and we run to the car, drive home, and go potty.  

This is what I mean...going to the park is fun.  Breaking from the routines I need to go through before leaving the house with a three year old is not.  It seems as if I rush to the fun because if it isn't planned, I feel like I am in a race to squeeze it in.   My efforts at being "fun" often to lead to near disaster because I break from routine which is also necessary.  I think I am scared I will change my mind, realize it is too much work to get to the park today, and then we will just sit at home and watch The Fresh Beat Band - again!

I guess what I need to remember is that in the grand scheme of things, what my daughter will remember is that we went to the "Castle Park" and then also the "Frog Park" all because she needed to go potty.  I just hope I can refrain from remembering that we spent more of the remaining daylight in the car driving to the park, back home, to the park, and back home than we spent IN the park.

So...did you have fun today - or did you provide fun today?  Either way you win.  I would love to hear from you!