Happy Me = Happy Family

If you fly you know the "Secure your own mask first before assisting others" rule, I apply that same principle to my family life too.  The first few years as a new Mommy were devoted to my babies - quite rightly too - here I was holding a beautiful perfect baby who was also helpless.  But as parents know those early years while wonderful, precious and joyous can take a toll on your wellbeing especially with those sleepless nights early on and later when they secretly climb into your bed in the middle of the night and spend that time kicking and turning around all night.

So when asked "What do I do to keep my family happy?"  My first answer is be happy myself.  When I'm in a good mood I transfer that energy to my family and then everyone is happy.  So I take the selfish route, with girls nights out and playdate parties that include wine and good food for the adults in the kitchen and chicken nuggets and fries for the kids in the basement.  I also took a long weekend to Florida with my girlfriends last year.  Oh how blissful to walk the beach without carrying five beach bags full of snacks, juice boxes, beach towels and sand toys and to sleep in past 8am.  Of course I missed my family terribly while I was away but sometimes Mom's who are the maker, shaker and groover of the family need to put ourselves first.

So after I put myself first I love to make my family happy by searching for fun family activities that nourishes then with new experiences and if its educational and free, even better.  For example both Home Depot and Lowes run kid workshops to build things from wood pieces.  April 2nd you can build a planter at Home Depot.  April 9th you can build a Sports Pinball at Lowes.  Both events are free and gets us out of the house at the weekends and we accomplish a project as a family.

While my children get a lot of learning stimulation and activities at their daycare, I still like to instill a sense of learning without making it "work" perse.  So we head to the library at the weekends to browse the books and also play educational games on the computer.  Again this is a free activity but a happy one as its in an environment that is fun for the kids and they learn at the same time.

I guess being the daughter of two chefs I have to say feeding my family makes me and them happy.  My parents being the traditional Asian parents said I love you through food.  Now as a parent myself I look back and realize that I was loved as there was not only food on the table every night but GOOD food.  I strive to bring good food into our home by couponing and shopping sales and then finding recipes that I know will make my family say "Yum Yum" at the first bite.

What do you do to make your family happy?

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Farm Rich blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

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