Water Wars

Last weekend I had one of the most memorable evenings I've ever spent with my family.  It began with a simple dinner - neither my husband or I felt like cooking,  a star wars kinder surprise for dessert and than a spectacular (and very spontaneous) water fight!  Kids vs. Parents...except Jack was on our team.  We opened the fence gates on both sides of our property, set the boundaries, made sure the road was off limits, filled the water toys and let the wars begin!  We honestly had the best time ever!  It's time together like this that all families (including ours), should be making an effort to do more of.  It costs nothing, required very little prep and left our kids exhausted and happy!  The funniest part about this whole story is that I finally thanked my husband for buying 4 gigantic water guns.

 

Here's a quick little recap for my readers.  For almost 2 years my oldest son has been begging me to buy him a water gun and for 2 years I have repeatedly told him "no" - but with good reason.  Yes I wanted to be that mom who was never going to let her kids play with guns...or anything that even remotely resembled a gun.  Then this summer, I finally gave in and decided to buy Hudson his first water gun.  It was just a little one I picked up on sale, but I was so excited to give it to him on his last day of school.  He too was beyond excited to get home that day and give it a try.  We agreed that it would be called his "water toy"...he even corrects us if we accidentally use the word "gun".  I was happy, he was loving his new gift and everything was great - then my hubby decided to surprise the kids one afternoon by bringing home 4 huge water guns!  "They were on sale! and it's so hot out", he tells me.  I had to laugh...but suddenly it made my gift look like a dollar store special.  Let's just say Hudson's little water toy became baby Jack's new toy.  And...well, the rest of the family - we all got new water toys (mommy included).  Despite my initial frustration, I must admit we've had a lot of fun with them this summer.  I definitely had to lay down some ground rules, but for the most part, both Hudson and Georgia are pretty good at following them.  It's Daddy I have to keep under control -ha! 

 

I know as my kids get older I'm going to have to learn to pick my battles...one thing I learned from this experience is I that can't protect my kids forever.  But I can teach them, show them, spend time with them and answer all their questions...which ultimately will guide them to make the right choices - including when not to point and shoot the water toy at mommy!

 

Have a wonderful weekend!