When our children were young, we started a Sunday night tradition called “Family Night”. It was a way to spend time together and allow each of our children to have a chance to take turns planning a night of family fun.
Each week, one of our children would have the chance to plan dinner for that night and then a family activity that we could all participate in. Sometimes the dinner was $.69 tacos from Taco Bell and other times it was frozen pizza or leftovers. Those who were older could either cook or choose a buffet or a restaurant.
After dinner, they could choose an activity for Family Night. We would play mini golf, watch a movie, ride go carts, ride bikes, play cards or a board game. When it was my turn or my husband’s turn, we would usually choose going to visit our parents because we wanted our children to have a relationship with their grandparents. My husband’s parents had a built-in pool, so swimming was a Family Night activity that was chosen quite often during the summer months.
Family Night was a big hit at our house and we all looked forward to it every week. Now that our children are grown and have families of their own, we have a modified version of Family Night. On Sundays, we go to church, then we meet at Culvers for lunch and whoever is available will join us with their families. We spend our lunch time visiting and catching up from the week.
Sometimes, our children will come over to our house on Sunday evenings to visit or have a cookout. I really believe that our Family Night memories will always live in the hearts of our children and perhaps as their children get older, they will carry on that tradition with their own families.
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