…but that doesn’t mean our summer has been extravagant.
I’ve read some things lately about how bucket lists are for things you want to do before you die and not for the summer. I’ve read hate about how bucket lists make us feel like we need to do all of these extravagant things to live up to some ideal. I’ll admit that these articles made me feel like crap for a few minutes. But you know what? I am a bucket list mom, and that is perfect for me and my family.
Any parent knows that days with kids can be long. Sometimes I crawl into bed and realize that the day felt like two or three days. Even when I think of fun things to do and try to get a lot accomplished, the days drag. Sometimes I get to the end of a season and feel like it was all a blur. Like I wasted so much time. But then when I go through all of the hundreds of pictures I took, I see how much fun we had.
All of that to say that my bucket lists aren’t about measuring up to everyone else. My bucket lists are about making sure I do the things that are important to me. They are about being able to look back at all of the things we did.
This summer’s “bucket list” is literally written on a small piece of lined paper that is hanging on the side of my fridge. I listed all of the splash pads I wanted to take my kids to. I listed a few kinds of treats I wanted them to have like root beer floats, homemade ice cream sandwiches, and snow cones. I wanted to take my kids to the pool at least once, head up the canyon for a nature walk, and go see some free fireworks.
Yes, I have a few things like “stay in a hotel” in hopes that if we got the chance we could go somewhere overnight. My kiddos loved staying in a hotel when we went to Disneyland in the spring, so I thought that might be fun. As summer comes to a close, I’m okay with not crossing that off. If you never make goals that are a little out there, you may never do anything out of the ordinary.
My “bucket lists” typically list things we would normally do that I don’t want to forget about. They are a way to check things off, which I’m all about! They are a way to remember all of the fun things we are doing.
So maybe “bucket list” is the wrong phrase to use. The wrong title. I mean, I guess it’s more of a “list of fun things I want to do with my kids in the next three months.” But who wants to use that kind of a title!
Having a seasonal bucket list doesn’t mean I’m going all out. It doesn’t mean I’m setting my kids up for disappointment or failure. It doesn’t mean we don’t have plenty of lazy summer days hanging out in the backyard playing in the water table and eating popsicles. Everyone has their own way of setting goals and plans for themselves and their families. This is mine.
