My middle daughter joined me today for a minor errand that was fun and encouraging for us both. We went to the dump!
There were sticks and brush to get rid of, old timbers from an ancient playset that we took down and broken lawn chairs to dispose of. Wow, can’t contain your excitement eh? Wish you were there? I KNOW!
Okay, so maybe you’re saying, ‘what’s the big deal?’
Taking on activities with my kids which is always more fun than doing them alone. If you don’t know that joy, let me say that putting on a big pair of work gloves and tossing garbage into a dumpster together can be very satisfying and fun. We chat, laugh, tell stories and work as a team. Can’t beat that.
We chat, laugh, tell stories and work as a team.
Can’t beat that.
And it’s so relaxed. No big expectations or heavy conversations. Actually you can have some amazingly significant conversations when you’re not face-to-face and all tense over some issue.
I told her the story of the first time I went to the dump with my dad as a child. Now in those days (I was quite young so over 50 years ago) the dump was a magical place with all kinds of stuff thrown out that still looked good to my young eyes —- pieces of bicycles, chairs, old TVs, furniture and aquariums. My imagination ran wild with all I could do with that stuff? And the fun thing is that in those days, before there were a lot of laws/rules about dumps and ‘waste management’ you could actually take stuff from the dump. I know! Sweet right?
Nowadays, you can’t just take stuff from the dump unless they have a recycle/reuse centre which has things set aside for new owners to take. And I see that this has to do with safety and liability and all that. Makes sense but it’s not as magical or fun for kids!
I shared this story with my daughter as sharing a part of my life which is a good thing. Our kids like to hear our stories and they like to tell them too. Stories are powerful even if you think you’re not a great story teller. The key is sharing and also listening.
And now the garbage is gone, plus we’ve shared fun and conversation. Try something like this, turned out to be the best part of my day!
