Monday, January 27, 2014

A New Tradition

If you've known me awhile, you know I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions.  (I don't think that you should wait until a new year to make a change that needs to be made in your life, and I also think that a change made for a "hype" is less likely to stick.  But that's just me.)

However, I do like to use the first month of each year as a time to think about where I need to start fresh, goals I need to set, traditions I would like to begin if I didn't begin them some other time during the year.

One tradition we started a couple of weeks ago actually just happened to occur at this time of year.  But I found it an opportune time to start something new and exciting and fun with our three oldest kiddos.

So Sunday nights have turned into "Watch something educational and try something new" night.  :-)

(We haven't ruled out the possibility of occasionally mixing it up and just watching something fun, but for now, this is how it goes.)

Our first couple of Sundays, we found documentaries on Netflix, which all three of the kids were actually able to pay attention to without getting too bored.  On K3's part, this continues to surprise me a bit, but in a good way. 

The first week we watched a documentary about the ocean and ocean life.  We tried a couple of new kinds of cheeses, kicking off the new tradition without too much craziness.  Limburger was the most exciting thing on our plates LOL.

The second week, we watched a behind-the-scenes documentary about the filming of The Lord of the Rings.  In addition to a couple more new kinds of cheese, we tried sardines, liver sausage, and eclairs (none of them new to Randy to me). 

Last week, I found the entire Planet Earth (British version) series for a good price on DVD, so last night we started that.  The new items on our plates were a couple more new cheeses - brie and herbed goat cheese (being in Wisconsin, this will probably continue to be a theme) - smoked oysters, kumquats, and red bananas, as well as chocolate covered potato chips. 

Each week, our main "meal" consists of snacks that everyone already likes, such as summer sausage, cheddar and colby jack cheeses, crackers, popcorn, etc.  Everyone is required to try at least one bite of each new item, and then can choose to have more or not. 

So far, I think the kids are really enjoying it.  I know I am.  Coming up with new ideas of things for them to try has become a bit of a game for Randy and me.  (We are open to trying new things for ourselves as well - and already have! - but this has proven to be a bit more of a challenge for us.)

I am really loving our new tradition, and looking forward to continuing it throughout the year.

3 comments:

  1. clever and fun way to get your kids into the habit of trying things! - Karrie Kershner

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  2. What an awesome idea! You are so creative!

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