How to Survive Life in the Suburbs

On Busy Lives, Throw Downs and Cake!

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Do you hear that?  It’s the the elusive sound of family chatter!  Oh how I have missed it.  It’s sad but true, time together as a family can be difficult to chase down.  This family is ridiculously busy, but aren’t we all?  It seems to be the curse of this generation.  Between a crazy work schedule for the adults….then school, homework, friends and activities for the kids; it’s now a rare occurrence when all four of us are home together for more than what barely passes as a quick dinner.  As the saying goes, time is flying, and I want someone to stop the clock, or at least press pause!

I had another reminder this weekend, a small epiphany perhaps.  I want to, no need to make some memories with my girls while they still think I’m kinda… sorta cool.  I know SassyHubby and I do a good job of squeezing in quality time over the summer.  It’s easier then.  Pool days, BBQ’s, volleyball games in the backyard, runs to the beach, and the cherished holiday at the cottage up north make it easy to spend time with my girls, talk to them, hang out with them and really know them. The rest of the year?  We have to work at it!  So what do we do?  What can we get better at?  We can try to make the most of any and every little opportunity to re-connect, to laugh, to play and to take back those quality moments that this crazy pace of life can too easily steal away from us.  Walking the dog is a family affair.  Shopping trips double as Mother-Daughter events.  Cooking together helps, but not everyone is into that.  One way I managed to squeeze in some family fun this week?

A Board Game Throw Down.  (Oh it’s a thing.  Trust me)

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I cleared all the must-dos out of the way.  Clicked off the TV and the laptop. Put that phone to silent and set my kitchen table up for an epic battle.  Well, an old school, board game challenge extravaganza.

There are some competitive people in my house and once my family realized what was going on, the challenge was quickly accepted.  A game of “Sequence” was quickly followed by the new fave “Apple to Apples”.

There were laughs, and maybe even a little name calling.  One game turned to two, turned to three as we moved from a “The Big Bang Theory” addition of CLUE to the hardest Cookie Puzzle of all time.

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 The afternoon was made even sweeter as I brought out a delish Chocolate McCain Deep ‘n Delicious® Cake  I’d been hiding in the fridge for an occasion just like this.

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It’s important for me to remember to try and do this more often!  Turn the crazy off for just an hour or two.  Shut the “real” world out and spend more time with the people who mean the most to me, my family.  Perhaps game night with Deep ’n Delicious® should become just part of our regular routine.   

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What are some ways you make time for the most important people in your life?  

I hope you too are finding ways to make each day more special than the last. 

 

Disclosure: This post was brought to you by McCain Foods Canada. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of McCain Foods Canada.

    • Comments

    1. Family game nights are great fun as are family movie nights – never had cake during these but it’s a new idea that I’m sure everyone would appreciate 🙂

    2. For us it’s going out to supper (with no phones). We get to really talk around the table. Supper is basically at different times on a regular day and everyone is too busy.

    3. My dad loved doing puzzles and he loved McCain Deep ‘n Delicious. Thanks for reminding me of these special memories of him.

    4. We set aside one night a week to do something. Dinner out, movie night at home, sometimes board games. Finding time for each other is important.

    5. This is the best way to relax and get in family time! My husband and I do (pretty much exactly that) frequently!…With the cake too :))

      • Oh I love it!! My Hubby and I have always been into scrabble challenges and love that we can now include the kids!

    6. Sounds like a perfect evening to me! Now that we have our daughter and her baby living with us, our lives have gotten much busier and we are having lovely family time.

    7. Family times + Cake sounds perfect to me. It has bee a long time since we had a McCain Cake, will have to buy one for a treat one of these days.

    8. my girls are still really young but I am really looking forward to family game nights when they get older. would love to be able to shut everything down for a night and enjoy each others company over some fun family games and popcorn 🙂

    11. My father loved puzzles as well as McCain Deep ‘n Delicious cakes. Your post made me think of me :).