The F-U-N Injection

So, I've been thinking all week (yes, it feels like Sunday right now) about how we can inject a little more fun into our roles as mothers, even when things feel just a little bit dull.

My real-life friend Deanna, mother of twin boys who are also 2, said she feels like every day is just about the same. Slightly different, but always very similar to the day prior.

And, since I've already confessed that lately dishes have seemed more fun than refereeing my daughters' play ...

Several of you chimed in comiserating with my words, helping me understand that A.) 2 is just a hard age and B.) All ages are hard ages.

So, for this challenge I'll need you to help -- a lot, actually.

Here it is: The F-U-N Injection Challenge: Highlighting the fun in Motherhood.

Many of life's great mysteries is the ability for our minds to play tricks on us and, I feel this is especially easy when two toddlers are fighting over which page you should read next, or when both want to wear the one and only pair of cupcake pajamas.

Sure, motherhood is hard and we all relate to that, but we all know that there is a lot of AWESOME involved.

I'd like to give the blogosphere a chance to highlight those -- kind of like my Mad Mama Cow experience. Sure, it was scary, but to this day it's down in history as one of the bravest experiences of my life. Earlier this week I took the girls on a ride up an escalator at the mall. It only took three tries and a lovely Sears employee to spot me from behind to do so ... but I did it! (We took the elevator down. R U Nuts?)

So, each Friday, this blog will unite mothers everywhere who have shared their proudest F-U-N moments of that week with other Mamas, giving new ideas about activities, events, decisions and moments proving that motherhood can be described with more than one F-word.

Need some examples of FUN other than being chased by a Mad Mama Cow?

How about coloring -- under the dining room table?

How about creating a new tradition -- and celebrating it?

How about doing something utterly, frustratingly, messy? And loving it!

How about turning everything upside, including the (gasp!) schedule?

How about creating a new game, including the rules?

The more "outside the box" the idea, the better it will be to share -- and write about.

But, Shawn, how can I share these F-U-N events of my week as a mother?

Good question.

You can do anything your heart desires as long as you post about said F-U-N anytime during the week on your blog with a link to this post, Between the Lines, mentioning The Carnival of F-U-N for Moms.

You may share a photo (or a photo collage or a series of photos) of your fun and leave it at that. Perhaps a short but sweet post is all that is necessary that week. Or, you might feel a narrative, a poem or a short story would be more fitting. This is a writer's blog, too, so the creative license is entirely yours to have and to hold. The idea is really to give other moms some new ideas as well as help us all point out the obvious -- or not so obvious -- fun aspects of being a mom in this century. (FYI -- Other bloggers participate in Haiku Friday, so this would be a big bang for your buck to combine the two, if you are into that sort of thing). Your fun might just be an after thought to another post and that's OK, too.

Of course, the Zen practice in this Carnival is being fully aware of each moment of each week about what is fun. Will we be awake for it? Will we be open to it? Will our idea of fun change over time?

Or, worse case scenario, no one participates at all and we, mothers everywhere, are proving beyond a doubt that we are, indeed, bored beyond hope.

Please join me this Friday with the first ever Carnival of F-U-N for Moms. Just email me the link to your direct post once your post is up at ubertwins at gmail dot com. You can post your F-U-N anytime during the week, but my list will go up on Friday mornings.

Please spread the word so more moms can participate and the more ideas we'll be able to share.

Thank you for visiting today.

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