This is the twenty-fifth post in my 31 Days of Living on Less Series. If you’d like to read all the posts in order, go to Day 1.
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Our family has never been able to afford an expensive vacation. And we may never be able to provide that sort of memory for our children. But that’s okay, since I don’t have memories of those kinds of vacations from my childhood, either, and it didn’t hurt me any.
What do I have memories of? Making old fashioned pulled taffy with my mom and some friends. Making homemade pizza together as a family. My parents in the kitchen making donuts. My mom’s homemade noodles, rolls, special birthday cakes, and peppernuts at Christmas. My grandma’s Mississippi Mud Bars.
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| An “A” Apple Pie! |
A lot of the special memories seem to involve food, for some reason! I guess that’s because food can define a time as “special.”
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| Apple Dumplings |
In our home, we try to create these same special memories with our children. The great thing is that cooking together doesn’t cost a lot (unless it’s a really elaborate recipe!). We’ve created traditions surrounding certain food that we only make at a particular time of year. For instance, we usually make cut-out cookies at the change of each season. It’s fun to vary the cookie cutters for spring, summer, fall, and winter.
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| Fall Sugar Cookies |
In addition to cooking together, here are a few more inexpensive ideas for creating memories with your family:
- Have a family game night.
- Have a movie night. Pop popcorn!
- Go on a nature walk.
- Go for a bike ride.
- Have a music night. Gather around the guitar or piano or sing a capella!
- Camp out in the backyard.
- Camp in the living room!
- Make a fire pit in the backyard and roast marshmallows or make s’mores.
- On a clear night, go out and watch the stars. We like to lie on the trampoline for this.
- Do a puzzle together.
- Go to a local playground or park and play together.
- Have an art night. Set out watercolors, paper, pencils, or whatever you have available, and create art together.
- Go on a picnic. Or have one in the backyard.
- Make a family movie. Enjoy creating costumes and then film it. Our children do this all the time, but it would be even more fun for Mom and Dad to join in!
- Look at family photos together.
- Have a special family meal. Use your best dishes and dress up.
- Read aloud. Enjoy a good book together.
- Jump in a pile of leaves!
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| A favorite game for the younger crowd, Busytown Airport. |
What are some of the best memories you’ve made that were free or inexpensive?
Hello! I'm a new reader and just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed reading all the posts in this series, especially this one. Some of my fondest memories are of being in the kitchen with my grandma (Canning or baking cookies or washing dishes). Thanks for the reminder that memories don't have to be expensive. I'm planning to make pizzas and bake cookies with my 4 little ones tonight. 🙂
Nice to meet you, Kayla! And thank you so much for the encouragement! Making pizza and cookies with your little ones sounds precious, and such a great way to make memories together! 🙂
We play lots of games here and watch movies. Lots of discussion and memory making happen…especially during laughter.
Our younger ones are just really starting to enjoy playing games, so we're really enjoying having a game night occasionally. And yes, the laughter is the best part!
Its the "little" things that the children will remember, like you mentioned. We also will never be able to afford an expensive vacation. I was told before that my kids are missing out because we don't take them out of state to see the world. As a child I never remember going anywhere except to Colorado a few times with my Grandparents. I have many more memories with my Grandma that are more precious than the trip we took. I was just telling Dustin the other day that there isn't any reason for us to leave the state when there are so many places here in Missouri we have never visited- state parks, historical sites, etc. As you know, we went to Branson for 4 days last week. By the 2nd day we were all terribly homesick and Nathan kept saying "eggs" when I asked him if he wanted to go home. 🙂 All he wanted to do was gather the eggs from the chickens. We found a set of Rook cards at a flea market and that is how we spent our evenings while at our cabin. No one wanted to go out on the town. We just played cards and made homemade popcorn while on our trip. It's the simple things. 🙂 Home sweet home can definitely be the most sweetest and most memorable place to be!!
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Kristin! That's so sweet about Nathan wanting to gather eggs! What a little sweetheart. ♥
This is what we do a lot too. I think vacations are fun, but it's the every day special things and holiday traditions that stay with you. You don't need alot of money to make special memories. It's time , and quality ,and heart.
Christina
I agree, it really is the everyday special things that make the biggest impression (even though I wouldn't turn down the occasional vacation if we could afford it!).