Don’t let a ‘can’t-be-bothered’ attitude rob you of good memories

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I had an Inspiration from the Carpenter post that I was going to upload earlier today but I slept in because Esther had been playing the I-don’t-want-to-go-to-bed game last night and she finally stayed in her bed at 1am this morning. I really needed the sleep and I was thankful that it was a public holiday so that Jacob could get up with the girls when they woke up.

When I finally got up out of bed (it was probably around 7:30am) I ummed and aahed about whether we would venture out to a family church picnic that our church had organized for today. I knew it was going to be hot and I really don’t do well in the heat. I had all intentions of staying home, but Jacob was keen to go. And then I thought I would message my best friend Jess to ask whether she was going and when she messaged me back straight away to say she was just about to ask me the same question, I knew that we were meant to go and that I had to get over my ‘can’t be bothered’ attitude.

It takes effort to make memories with kids. Work and family life can really deplete your energy and I know that I sometimes don’t want to make the effort to go somewhere because I just can’t be bothered.

But this mindset can really rob me of making great memories with my kids or just memories for myself.

I set off to bake some muffins and biscuits to take with us to the picnic and while I was baking, I reminisced the church family picnics I had enjoyed when I was younger. The picnics I went to were the ones my grandparents took me and my brother to. Mum and dad weren’t really into going to church picnics. They served the church in other areas and after a busy week at work, they much preferred to stay home on weekends. I remembered when I was little, how I wished mum and dad were more enthusiastic about taking my brother and I to them. I may have even vowed myself to go to social events like this when I was older.

This is not criticism to my parents because weekends were precious time to get things done at home or just to rest from a really busy working week. And to be honest my parents have never been the ‘camping or picnic’ type.

And yet here I was in the same predicament, not really wanting to exert the effort it would take to pack the esky and jump in the car to go.

But I did it. Or rather we did it.

And we had a ball.

There was a sausage sizzle, fairy floss, face painting, a huge jumping castle, a cups and saucer ride, pony rides and typical church picnic games like the three legged and potato sack races. Oh and did I mention it was all free?!

Esther had a ball. She jumped herself to exhaustion on the jumping castle and got her face painted as a rabbit. She also fell off a pony and landed in horse poo. (our family can’t seem to stay away from the stuff!!)At least it was at the end of the picnic and she didn’t hurt herself.

My cute little bunny Esther
My cute little bunny Esther
Magdalene loved sitting in the shade on the picnic rug
Magdalene loved sitting in the shade on the picnic rug

I got to chat with my girlfriends while our babies played with toys on a picnic rug in the shade and I enjoyed myself.

What I learned from today is that it is so easy to let a bad attitude take charge of my day, but by simply making a decision and changing my mindset, I went to something that blessed me and my family with memories that will be foundational to Esther’s childhood.

Don’t let a ‘can’t-be-bothered’ attitude rob you of good memories. It’s so hard to make the effort when you have little children but from my experience today, the reward is certainly worth the effort.

Do you have any fond memories of church family picnics?

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