The family who plays together, stays together.

Great parenting is a delicate balance between freedom and rules, exploration and structure. When parents seek to learn who their children are by listening to them, and when parents attempt to guide who their children can become, there are inevitably many serious conversations. Its important to have daily or weekly fun experiences together. It reminds everyone why the hard parts are worth it.

This is one of my favorite parts of parenting. I have spent 40 years going through life and "collecting" great experiences. Now, I can share the best of the best (in my opinion, of course) with young humans who have never done them before. As your children age, you get to walk down memory lane and share the things you loved at each stage in your life. 

This is very important and often gets neglected by many well-meaning parents. My own children have pointed out to me a few times over the years that I wasn't showing interest in the things they love, but I was still expecting them to participate in the fun activities I chose. Whew, that was hard to hear! But I humbled myself and I learned about the My Little Pony's quest for friendship. I learned how the piece count in Lego boxes doesn't always correspond to the price. And I came to understand how the Decepticons had a lot of infighting which made it difficult for them to have ultimate victory over the Autobots.