Surprise February Fun Day

I was driving to the gym the other day in the frigid cold. (I try not to let the weather affect whether or not I’ll go to the gym. My husband and I rotate which days we go, and once a week we go together.)

I was so tired of the cold, feeling complainy. I started praying and just asking the Lord for the resilience to keep going… to homeschool another day with a good attitude. To be kind & patient towards my kids.

And the Lord said, “February fun day…. cancel school and surprise your kids today.”

By the time I left the gym, He’d given me a whole inspired plan! So I brought home donuts and announced we were having Surprise February Fun Day! (I always name the thing what it is, but make it sound like a real name and it becomes a tradition – lol”

• “Ticket school” = earning tickets for doing school
• “Donuts & lights night” = going out for donuts & looking at lights at night
• “Pizza Movie Night” = watching a movie with pizza
• “What’s Next Cleanup” = where the kids ask me “what’s next?” and I give them one quick job at a time until the house is tidied.

We have so many of these… ANYWAY… where was I!?

Oh yeah – announcing Surprise February Fun Day!

It changed the whole mood of the day & we had a blast enjoying each other.

First we ate donuts and read stories by the fire with guinea pigs in attendance!

Then we got ready & went bowling at a local bowling alley that hasn’t changed since the 90s. I have proof because my husband was in bowling club here in middle school & he said it looks the same – old school change machine, arcade, water fountain and all! (Remember someone behind you counting to 3 while you drank water at one of these. The good ol’ days of dehydration.)

Then we went home and the big kids changed into sledding gear. I dropped them off at the closest sled hill & ran the 2 year old home for naps. Threw their favorite frozen pizza in for lunch & went back and picked up the kids.

Then we had a fun day pause and went to violin for 2 hours. But we brought games to play instead of schoolwork while each kid rotated through lessons.

After violin, some kids did an hour of screen time while I took my oldest & youngest shopping. We needed some last minute valentine’s stuff & we’ve been slowly redecorating my 12 year old’s room; that was her 12th birthday present!

I threw dinner together in a few minutes thanks to my new meal-prepping system. Holla!

After dinner, the kids begged Dad to come play King of the Mountain with them downstairs and of course, in the name of “February Fun Day,” he said yes!

Then, we did a Minute to Win it tournament of sorts. We’d never done these games before, but the kids had been watching Dude Perfect so I thought they’d think it was fun. My type A, competitive, mathy child ran and made a quick score sheet. Ha!

I just wrote the 5 games on our kitchen dry erase board.

You guys – it was all so simple. I just used stuff we had around the house for the games.

• Large marshmallows
• Package of plastic cups
• Straws
• Plastic plates
• M & Ms

The kids thought it was AMAZING. We all had fun together. So much laughter.

I feel like our family just needed a day like this.

Everything was simple & cheap. (Even bowling… it was like $35 for the 5 kids and me!)

But the time just having fun & the change of pace was so refreshing. Sometimes you just need to mix it up for a day!! Especially when you’re homeschooling and it’s below zero many days in a row.

I have come to realize that for better or worse, my attitude really sets the tone in our home. Maybe this is one meaning of the Proverb, “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” (Proverbs 14:1)

If I’m snippy and grumpy, everyone gets snippy and grumpy. If I’m hurrying around telling everyone to hurry up, they get frantic. If I’m patient, slow to speak, quick to listen, calm, kind… that trickles down. (Not perfectly, of course, but it’s noticeable.)

Surprise February Fun Day was a good reminder to me to just occasionally put responsibilities and checklists on pause and have fun together.

Here are some other ideas for inserting random FUN into your days at home:

• Hot chocolate story time
• 1 on 1 games – send your kid an “invite” to your room, telling them to bring their own game & fun snack of choice.
• Gas station slushies & movie afternoon (at home)
• Cereal for dinner
• Pancakes for dinner
• School at a coffee shop (our town has a fun coffee shop with a play place!!)
• Museum
• Field trip to somewhere to see “how something works” – newspaper press, book publisher, welding company, fire station, etc.
• Learn a new skill together on youtube! Over the years, our kids have enjoyed Rubik’s cube, origami, landscape painting, friendship bracelets, calligraphy, drawing.
• Chocolate cake for dinner – a friend of mine does this!! Once a year she surprises her kids with “cake for dinner night.”

What are your ideas?! Come chime in on THIS INSTAGRAM POST with all your fun ideas.