Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family. ~Anthony Brandt
As the sun begins to pour light into our bedroom, I glance over at my children, happily wedged in between my husband and I. Sometimes my daughter’s hand rests on my back or my son’s arm drapes across my husband. Despite our best attempts to encourage independent sleeping, they always end up in our bed at some unsightly hour of the night. For weeks months we fought it. But we have both come to realize that this small window of time where our children actually want to snuggle with us will be but a distant memory in a matter of time. As my daughter sleepily opens her eyes at the sound of my movement, I grab her close to me, whispering how much I love her…how thankful I am for her…the restless night already long forgotten.
There is an unshakeable bond between family members. I can already see it being lived out in my children. He cries and she asks him if he’s ok. She’s sad and he puts on her favorite show. When they’re asleep on our bed, they cuddle up to each other…naturally…instinctively.
A few weeks ago, we celebrated my son’s birthday amongst friends and family with the traditional party fanfare. It was a great day filled with laughter and squeals of joy. But that won’t be the last time we celebrate our children this year. Even more important than the requisite annual birthday party are those smaller, impromptu moments of celebration.
Celebrating family means being there for each other through the joys and the sorrows. As a parent, that celebration begins when we wake each morning with hugs and snuggles and doesn’t end until I’ve tucked my children in at night. It’s the gentle words of encouragement and affirmation that I send my son to school with…the firm but necessary and always gracious discipline I have to implement to steer my children in the right life direction.
Disney recently released it’s latest film in the Beverly Hills Chihuahua trilogy. Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3 Viva La Fiesta is a celebration of family. The tag line is that “Family Always Matters” and I couldn’t agree more. I want each of my children to grow up knowing that they are important…that they have unique gifts and attributes that matter. To celebrate the release of the film, here are our favorite ways to celebrate family in our home:
Evening trips to Disneyland
Family movie nights complete with popcorn and pizza
Staycations and vacations
Cooking and baking together
Surprises and treats (edible and non-edible)
Handwritten notes
Splashing in the waves as the sun sets over the beach
How do you celebrate family? I’d love to be inspired in new ways! And if your pooch has a special talent, you’ll want to enter Papi’s Talent Show for a chance to win a trip for 4 (plus your dog) to LA for a 3 night stay at the Langham Huntington Pasadena.
I was compensated for writing this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Disney blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.
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Awe, your kids are adorable! What a great post. Not sure if my dogs have a real talent… but they sure are hilarious and bring us so much joy. 🙂
Terrific post! I love all your pictures! My dogs don’t really have talents either, aside from eating! LOL.
This is such a sweet post. My family has a lot of fun when we do a game night. My dogs are very talented beggars. Does that count?
Such a sweet post!!!
I love your daughter’s curls! 😉