The thing that rocks

With kids, sometimes (lots of times) you just have to give a name to what you're doing and suddenly the thing you're doing or you want them to do is more appealing to them. For instance, instead of asking them to come color, you announce (in an announcer voice, of course) that it's Art Time. Capital A. Capital T. They come running. Instead of asking them to go to the store with Daddy (to give you a moment of silence), you tell them it's their turn for a special outing with Daddy. Instead of asking them if they want graham crackers for snack, you announce it's Graham Cracker Day. Adding a little "Woohoo!" at the end seals it tight. And so on. I'm sure I'm not announcing anything groundbreaking here, even if I am thinking about it in my announcer head-voice.

What I'm getting at is that tonight we joined the ranks of many families before us who have transformed the rather routine thing into the thing that rocks the night away. So instead of telling you we had pizza and watched TV, I am going to tell you that we had our first ever Family Movie Night. We built it up all afternoon that we were going to have this special night and that Daddy was picking up a new movie on the way home from work. The deal was that it had to be a new movie that Peyton had never seen before. She was so excited. We had homemade taco pizza with (homemade) sourdough crust (I'm bragging here) and then quickly put the girls in pajamas. We pushed the ottoman out of the way and made a pallet of blankets on the living room rug. We could have stopped there. The girls in pajamas began to squeal and roll and jump and tickle each other all over the pallet. When I tried to remove one of the blankets, Harper screeched to a halt and screamed. I put the blanket back and gently, gently backed away. Anyway, the four of us ended up huddled together on the living room floor watching a Diego movie.

Stop the music.

A what movie? Yes, a Go Diego Go movie.

I know. My bragging ends there. But only for a moment, sucka. Why? Because the thing that rocked was not the actual movie. I still don't care if Diego rescued pandas or beavers. The thing that rocks is now knowing that it takes so little effort to get the grooviest giggling and snuggling you'll ever get from a three-year-old and a one-year-old, not to mention one of my most memorable moments as a parent. All it takes is a little build-up and a little label. It's all in the name. Well, and the announcer voice. Don't forget the voice.

P.S.
I don't really think you're a sucka, despite the fact that you keep reading this thing. :) Sometimes a bloga mama just has to get sassy to make her point. Yo.