Are you a 'fun' parent?

[Minnie824]

Do you feel that you're a 'fun' parent? Do you enjoy playing games, and with toys, or whatever with your kids? Do you have a lot of time for this sort of thing? I love playing board games, etc with DDs, but it seems like theres hardly any time for it lately. My new years goal is to set up a family fun night for us all to do what the kids want once a month - games, roller skating, bowling, whatever.

 

[NMAmy]

I'm fun in that I like to play games and go fun places. We play board games a lot. We (DD, 18, DH and I) had a blast over Christmas break playing games--we had the most fun with Apples to Apples. I was laughing so hard I cried.

We go to the movies, go to WDW, go on vacations, etc and have a lot of fun--I think dd agrees since she's 18 and she still likes to do this stuff with me. I figure my house can be spotless when she's older and doesn't have time to hang out with me anymore.

 

[dec5girl]

I don't know if my kids think I'm a fun parent, but I have that new years goal too! I am going to try to go somewhere once a month as a family that we have never been. January we did the museum of flight in Seattle. Haven't decided what we are doing in February yet.

 

[glitterkittyy]

That's an interesting question. My kids tell me all the time "You're funny, mommy", but I don't know if that means I'm also fun. I make up stories, do stupid voices, all kinds of things to make them laugh. We don't have a game day or any family bonding type nights. It's a great idea, but I don't like too much scheduling and structure. I would hate to say Wednesday is game night so let's play a game whether we're feeling it or not. Don't get me wrong...I think it's fabulous. I just don't think it's for me.

Instead, we go to WDW at least 2-3 weekends a month. That should be enough fun for my kiddos. lol

 

[minnie61650]

Yes, I enjoyed playing with kids when they were younger.

When they were teens our house was the" party house".

We have a heated pool and live on the lake so there were lots of fun summer activities. Ialways keep lots of soft drinks on hand for the "kids". It was great because I got to know their friends and knew they well supervised.

Our youngest Daughter is now 25. One of her best guy friends from HS (Daniel) still visits . He stills calls me mom ( his second mom) gives me a hug when he sees me and sends me card for my birthday.

 

[xoprincessmomxo]

I guess I am. My parents were fun and I try to parent like them. But, I am not fun when it comes to rules, respect, and general good behavior. And remember, it's cliche, but it's not the quantity but the quality of the time you spend with your children.

 

[PatsMom]

In some ways I think I am a very fun parent. When DD was little I set aside time every evening to color with her. When she was old enough to play games, we did that almost every day. In addition, I have this Disney addiction which she had to share in!

I also enjoy day trips to the beach - she loved those. And shopping (more so now that she is a teenager). We still love a good game of Scrabble or cards.

In other ways I am not a fun parent. I have rules that must be followed. She has to be where she says she will be. She has limited cell phone minutes and if she texts, she has to pay me back out of her allowance. She has to learn to budget - we started small at around age 10 and have worked up to a weekly amount that has to cover all food outside the home (like school lunches), entertainment, gas for her car, and some clothing. We also insist on no drugs or alcohol. She has a curfew. She has a part time job and is expected to save at least part of her money to help pay for college.

So overall I think I am a fun parent but on a day when she is wrestling with losing ten minutes sleep to have time to make a lunch for school so that she has more money to buy pins as Disney, DD might tell you that I am not fun at all.

 

[glitterkittyy]

But, I am not fun when it comes to rules, respect, and general good behavior.

Good point and same goes for me.

 

[puffkin]

Wow, tough one!

I am a bad mom in that I hate "playing". I just am not good at getting down and playing with trucks, action figures, dolls, etc. My husband is always on my case about not playing with DS (almost 3) more, but I just stink at it.

Arts and crafts projects I enjoy, but I am such a perfectionist that I have a hard time enjoying that with kids either. I have a hard time accepting that the projects aren't going to end up perfect. I do much better with older kids/tweens in this area.

Board games I am a stickler for playing the game correctly. I don't let my DS cheat or fix the game so he wins. I think it is important for kids to learn how to play by the rules early and to learn that they don't always win. We do play Candyland and Memory now and he does a pretty good job with it. I hate playing games with my tween nieces because they never follow the rules and get upset if I win.

I do think that I am a "FUN" parent though in that I follow all the kid and tween stuff like toys, books, music, etc. I pretty much know what is in and out. I love teen lit and I follow the entertainment world fairly closely so I know what is "cool" and "uncool". I also coach field hockey (ages 8-12) so I learn a lot from the girls. I also am a big experience person and love taking my nieces (and now son) all sorts of fun places.

 

[disneybam]

Don't know if they think I am "fun", but I do alot with them. But, I am a SAHM. It really does make a difference as far as having time to do things.

(Playing board games with older kids is alot more fun because of the level. When they were little, I did play young level board games, sometimes it was fun, sometimes I was bored out of my mind!, but pretended to have fun. (And I mean that with love.)

 

[TEENEE]

My dh and I were just talking about this. My kids are 17 & 13. Often times my son, (the 17 year old) will call me after school just to chat. He'll be off to college in the fall and my dh said he thinks DJ will still call me when anything exciting happens. I really hope so because I'm going to miss him terribly. My dd still likes to hang out with me too. Both kids enjoy playing board games, camping, just being together. I'm at a point in my life that I am starting to see that I have done a good job raising my kids. It really shows in my son. He loves taking his girlfriend to do things that we have done as a family. I don't know how to put this in words but I'll try. I believe my son truely loves his girlfriend. When he shares his memories with her by taking her places or talking about things that we have done it just makes me feel good. I feel like I've done things right and that my kids have had a good childhood.

Sorry, I kind of got off track.

 

[bookgirl]

I'm the fun Aunt .

 

[shortbun]

My husband and I are both fun parents. Our parents worked so hard and we both felt that they didn't even know us when we grew up. My son tells his friends, "My parents like to spend time with me!" He's 13 and I'm feelin' really great that he still likes that about us. The last Sunday of Christmas break, we all chose a board game and a movie. We spent the entire day together, just the three of us. It was heaven!!!

 

[SC Minnie]

Although there are rules and limitations in our house, I think I am a fun mom. DD14's friends even think I'm cool.

 

[eh24fan]

Wow, tough one!

I am a bad mom in that I hate "playing". I just am not good at getting down and playing with trucks, action figures, dolls, etc. My husband is always on my case about not playing with DS (almost 3) more, but I just stink at it.

Arts and crafts projects I enjoy, but I am such a perfectionist that I have a hard time enjoying that with kids either. I have a hard time accepting that the projects aren't going to end up perfect. I do much better with older kids/tweens in this area.

Board games I am a stickler for playing the game correctly. I don't let my DS cheat or fix the game so he wins. I think it is important for kids to learn how to play by the rules early and to learn that they don't always win. We do play Candyland and Memory now and he does a pretty good job with it. I hate playing games with my tween nieces because they never follow the rules and get upset if I win.

I do think that I am a "FUN" parent though in that I follow all the kid and tween stuff like toys, books, music, etc. I pretty much know what is in and out. I love teen lit and I follow the entertainment world fairly closely so I know what is "cool" and "uncool". I also coach field hockey (ages 8-12) so I learn a lot from the girls. I also am a big experience person and love taking my nieces (and now son) all sorts of fun places.

I could have written this post. I have boys and I'm soooo not a good boy mom. I'm not into getting down and dirty, playing with cars, trucks, army men, etc. I'm terrible at sports, so playing catch is a futile effort...my 8 yr old won't even entertain the idea. Board games are fun, but hard to play with the 2 year old around. He tends to destroy anything we are trying to do that involves game pieces, etc.

I feel like I'm fun in that after school sometimes I'll swing through Sonic and we'll get a shake or in the summer we'll head down to the beach one night just to go to the boardwalk, or over to my mom's to swim. I'm the spontaneous activity mom.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

I try to be. I'm not big on playing race cars with DS, but we do play other games. He's really gotten into Wii Bowling lately and he loves 'playing' Scene It! with DH and I.
We do fun things together--we play pirates or Star Trek (he likes me to be Capt. Picard ) and we go to the library and thet park together. He LOVES to read so we spend at least part of the evening reading stories and I usually read to him out of a book (we're reading out of The Book of Virtues right now) at bedtime.

The other day he was having a bad day at school, so when we got home, I put "Juicebox Heroes" by the Imagination Movers on the CD player and we danced around the living room.

 

[Darsa]

Yeah, my DD13 gets embarrassed because I "play" with her friends. They come over to our house, because apparently ours is the "Fun House" which puzzles me, considering we don't have any "fun stuff" other than a lot of snow, and everyone has that :lol: I think it's because her friends have parents that are either SERIOUS neat-freaks who can't stand to have anything out of place, or really not very "kid-friendly" (which I've witnessed myself).

But I try to identify with the kids and listen to them, and give them the answers they're looking for, not the ones that are just to get them to move on. I also like to roller skate and bowl and do lots of different physical things in and outside, so I'm the designated "ride" for all the fun stuff I think it annoys them that I'm a better skater and bowler, but kids these days need a bit of healthy competition!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Do you feel that you're a 'fun' parent? Do you enjoy playing games, and with toys, or whatever with your kids? Do you have a lot of time for this sort of thing? I love playing board games, etc with DDs, but it seems like theres hardly any time for it lately. My new years goal is to set up a family fun night for us all to do what the kids want once a month - games, roller skating, bowling, whatever.

Once a month? We play with our kids all the time. Board games, card games, video games, bike riding, playing at the park, swimming in the pool, reading books together, watching movies together, and more. My oldest is 9 and I'm dreading the day that he no longer wants to spend time with us.

We were at a party at Pump It Up (a place with lots of inflatable bouncy things) last weekend. It was a mixture of people from the neighborhood and other friends of the birthday girl. Half way through the party, I noticed that all of the parents from our neighborhood had their shoes off and were mixing it up with the kids. The other parents were all just sitting on the benches talking to each other. It made me realize how much I love my neighborhood, and it made me feel really sorry for those parents that were missing a great opportunity to have fun with their kids.

Never grow up. Life should always be full of play and no one does it better than kids.

 

[JessicaR]

Yes absolutely a fun parent!

 

[Minnie824]

Once a month? We play with our kids all the time. Board games, card games, video games, bike riding, playing at the park, swimming in the pool, reading books together, watching movies together, and more. My oldest is 9 and I'm dreading the day that he no longer wants to spend time with us.

Sorry, I should clarify..we do stuff all the time, I just meant once a month specifically for a whole day/night of something special..some outing, or just a whole day dedicated to spending time together, not just for a hour when we have time around activities.