Is There a Time When Ice Cream Doesn’t Hit the Spot? #seizingfamilytime

Slurping a frosty drink at Macky’s in Ocean City, MD

We’re a family of 5. Always flying in different directions. To work, Cub Scouts, soccer, school events, swimming, volleyball, and more. I can just about remember the days when having a doctor’s appointment and a playdate in the same week would make me STRESSED. Now a week with two activities would be unheard of. With three kids in full-day school and a slew of activities, a school administrator dad, and a work-at-home mom, we are always on the go.

We are on the go ALL THE TIME. The Musings from Me Family has two speeds. My family of 5 is either on fast forward or we are parked on the couch. I’m glad that the kids are all able to power down from busy days. Powering down is what we all need to recharge our batteries. I’m very proud that I have kids who can always find something to do when we are home.

If I am out and about with the kids, I am always moving…driving from one activity to the next…driving morning and afternoon carpools…dropping off a kid at one activity even though I need to drop off another kid at an activity at the same time. As I said, I’m on the go…we are on the go.

Once home we are all about SEIZING FAMILY TIME. We could be watching a movie or eating dinner as a family or playing a game together.And we don’t need to be all together to seize family time. If the new teen driver is out and about, my husband and I will play a game with the other two kids.

One of our favorite treats is dessert. Whether it is a homemade milkshake or a birthday sheet cake from Costco or a stop at a Frozen Yogurt place, we love our sweets. My Tween-now-Teen has a particularly sweet tooth. That kid could eat her weight in candy. Of the three kids, she is the one who sorts her Halloween candy piece by delicious piece. My Now-Driving-Teen stopped trick-or-treating when she was quite young. She rarely eats candy. Now give her a sweet drink and she is all over it.

From time to time, I will take the older two kids through the drive-thru at Starbucks. Sometimes I don’t even get a drink! I like to see what they order. Years ago, when I was working from home as a book editor I would have to go to the office to drop of materials or make copies. Often my husband and the baby would drive me…even back then we were all about seizing family time! While I was copying manuscripts, they would run errands. Once I was done, they would pick me up. On the way home, my husband and I would stop at Starbucks.

It was at one of these drive-thru stops that our oldest then a toddler said the funniest thing. We were in the habit of each getting a drink. We never thought that our toddler noticed what we were doing. We didn’t think she noticed that we were getting drinks until one day when she said in a voice as clear as a bell “I want a Decaff Frappe Vanilla!” My husband and I were dumbstruck. We had never heard her say such a long sentence. We couldn’t help ourselves from laughing. My husband ordered that Decaff Frappe Vanilla and poured part of that drink in to her sippy cup.

My oldest has had a taste for Starbucks drinks ever since. Her drink of choice is a Chai Latte. The Tween-now-Teen only discovered Starbucks this summer. After trying a few drinks that she didn’t like, she now orders the Refresher drinks.

What is your favorite sweet treat?