Family Fun Month

Okay, whoever was put in charge of getting the "national days" set in place kinda went overboard with some of them --and apparently ran low on ideas when they named others.  Take "Wiggle Your Toes" or the "Blah, Blah, Blah" days for example.  Hello?  A lot of national days are better for laughs or raised eyebrows than they are for celebrations. (However, for those with prolific zucchini plants, August 8, "Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day", might be worth marking down and doing something about.)  

While many national days pass us by unheeded, here is one national title truly worth celebrating: August is christened Family Fun Month.  Our families are always worth celebrating and making positive memories together is always in season, but a whole month named in honor of having fun as families is too good to pass by unnoticed.  

Since there are four full weeks in August, I'm suggesting we take time each week to focus on doing something fun together with our family.  It doesn't have to be exotic nor expensive; the only criteria is that we do something on purpose to leave behind fun memories as a family. 

Are you worried that you don't have the time or energy to put into this?  Don't nix the idea of doing something fun as a family each week before you give it a try!  A few great ideas and a little planning in advance can go a long way.  I'm discovering there are myriads of fun things to do and plan to post a some of those ideas throughout the month. 

For starters, here's a few ideas based from the National Days of August: 

• Book Lover's Day (more on that later), August 9
• Son and Daughter Day, August 11:  Let your children choose the supper menu, decorate simply with helium balloons and a little gift at each child's plate.  Include a little note in each gift telling that child something you appreciate about them.  
• National Lefthander's Day, August 13:  Give being left-handed a try.  Everyone eat with your left hands today, draw a picture with your left hand, or play ball left-handed.  Look up some famous people in history who were left-handed including the ones found in Judges 20:16 and I Chron. 12:1,2. 
• Creamsicle Day, August 14:  Got any ideas? :) Think front porch, children, parents, and a box of creamsicles.  
• Senior Citizen's Day, August 21:  Today would be a good one to do something for a senior citizen.  Go sing for them.  Bake them some bread, do some shopping for them, take them shopping if they are up for it but don't like to drive.  See if they need yard work done or a flower bed weeded.  Today's a great one to make memories as a family by ministering to someone else. 
• Toasted Marshmallow Day, August 30:  Have a campfire and make sure to break out the marshmallows!