Vacation season is here! It’s the time kids and adults wait for all year long! As adults, it’s the time we’ve told ourselves we will finally relax and give our family members our undivided attention.
That puts a lot of pressure on your vacation to be a memory machine. The very thing that’s supposed to help you relax can become another source of stress. How am I going to manufacture fun and memories when I’m already exhausted?
I think it’s possible to get more out of your vacation season without having to do tons of research and planning. All you have to do is…
BE THE SHARK.
If I can give you one suggestion this summer, especially if you have young children, it’s to be the shark.
Chances are high that some portion of your vacation will be spent around a pool. Maybe the pool is in your backyard, a resort, or a hotel. Your kids will inevitably ask you to play the role of a shark while they are the minnows. (Tag if you’ve never played sharks and minnows.)
Chances are equally high the request will come right when your book is getting interesting or when the pool temperature is well under 80 degrees. In that moment, you have a choice…push them off again or be the shark.
The challenge is that we spend most of the year pushing them off until “later.” It’s easy to keep doing it on vacation too. In our minds, we aren’t saying “no,” we’re saying “later,” but later never really comes. It’s not easy to flip a switch or unplug from the machine we’ve been trying to keep running the rest of the year.
Being the shark is about saying “yes” this summer.
Do you want to go for a bike ride? Yes!
Do you want to go for a walk after dinner? Yes!
Do you want to catch fire flies? Yes!
Do you want to go camping? Yes!
Do you want to make s’mores? Yes!
Do you want to go see a movie? Yes!
The season to say “yes” is a short one. You have a limited number of summer vacations with your kiddos. How many do you have left?
I think about that every time I look at my neighbor’s pool. He is in a different season of life than I am. His kids have all grown and now he enjoys his pool by himself. He made great memories when his kids were younger. Now no one is begging him to be the shark or play Marco Polo.
This summer you will be asked by your kids or maybe even your grandkids if you want to…
My prayer is that you’ll remember this post and do everything in your power to say, “Yes!”
One day you’ll have plenty of time to read all the books you want or have the perfect lawn, but your family time is limited.
You’ll always be a family, but you won’t always live as a family.
I think that is one of the saddest truths I’ve ever written because I love right now in my own family. The good news is the more we say “yes” to “being the shark” the more we’ll see our family when they’ve started their own.
One day when you’re in a different season and look at a pool or your pool you’ll remember the belly flop contests, the basketball games, Marco Polo, and being the shark. You’ll be so glad you put down the book or braved the frigid waters because you weren’t just making memories for your kids but for you.
If you do it often enough your grandkids will grow up with parents who know all about the importance of being the shark.
