When you plan events or do things with your children, you can never know what will stick in their minds. Kids appreciate the small things, sometimes even more than the large things.
A few Examples from my own life.
1986 Seattle Washington, our family is at the zoo. big zoo. lots of animals we've never seen before. I was 16, Ross was 13, Lisa was 18. At one point, all 3 of us are staring at the ground at a slug. Said slug was not a zoo exhibit, just the biggest slug any of us had ever seen. We were fascinated.
2007 Miami Took the kids on a trip to the Miami Zoo. Joshua was 9. After a day of seeing alligators and Komodo Dragons, Hippos and feeding Giraffes, I asked Joshua what animal was his favorite. He said the fake ones. Miami Zoo has cement animals that the kids can climb on.
Almost as soon as my kids were old enough to put together thoughts, I started asking them what was their favorite thing they did today, or if we went to an event as we were leaving I would ask what their favorite thing about that event was. By time they were in early elementary school, they were telling me what their favorite things were without being prompted. Many times in the car after going to a park or event, one of the kids would out of the blue say "My favorite thing about ___ was ___. I would like to think that I helped train them to think about their day and to appreciate something good about that day. My only regret is that I didn't write down and journal the daily thoughts the kids expressed. But then again, not everything in life needs to be documented, some things just need to be enjoyed in the moment.
One of my earliest childhood memories included the Blue Angels. (which are flying over Fargo all day for the next few days!!!! I've missed the sound of fighters) I think at one point I figured out that I must have been 2 when this happened, could have been a few years older, the memory is pretty vague. What I remember is sitting on my dads shoulders in a crowd. He told me the Blue Angels were coming. So the Angles came, they flew around, then they went away. That's my memory. But, I knew all about Angels. God sends the Angels to earth to talk to people, bring 'good tidings of great joy' and things like that. I fully believed that the Blue Angels were God's Angels. I didn't in my young mind understand they were US Navy F4's. Even after I found out they were not real Angels, that was one of 'my favorite things' about that day.
I would challenge you to have those conversations with your kids. Ask them what their favorite thing was. You will be surprised. I was all the time. Some days we would have planned a big event or trip and the kids' favorite thing was the ice cream they got, or seeing a pretty rock, or playing on a fake animal.
PS: It's not a bad conversation with your spouse either.
