WFMW

Now that the weather is warming up, it's the perfect time to plan a "Pajama Run!" It takes a little planning in advance on your part, but be sure NOT to let your kids on that you're up to something. Pick an evening when you don't have any big plans for the next morning, a Friday night perhaps. Have a normal dinner but skip dessert. At bedtime, do your normal routine - pj's, teeth brushing, stories, prayers, etc. Then at lights out time, announce, "Pajama Run!" Everyone piles into the car, still in jammies, and heads to the nearest or favorite drive-thru for a small ice cream or shake or treat. Enjoy the time together and the giggling and the smiles. Take the opportunity of having eveyone in the car to just...talk. Put up with the drips and the mess and the sticky jammies. (Plan in advance and bring along a box of wipes!)

Our kids LOVE this! Once the weather starts to get warmer they start asking when the next "Pajama Run" will be. But we are very careful to make these a very special event and limit them to a couple of times a summer.

Now understandably, your kids aren't going to come home and want to go directly to bed. A little sugar, a little excitement, a trip out at bedtime, all add up to the need for a little more "wind-down" time once you get home. Hence picking a night where staying up a later isn't going to pose a problem next day. And may I suggest, that you start getting them ready for bed earlier than usual so it doesn't end up so late? Once you return home, encourage them that you'll be a lot more likely to take them on another "Pajama Run" sometime if they don't give you any problems getting to bed afterwards. Finally, keep it special by not doing it very often. We find that we can handle wired, happy kids at bedtime if we only cause it like this a few times a year.

We've found the benefits FAR out-weigh the investments. Go ahead! Give it a try. You kids will love you for it.

A "Pajama Run!" It works for us!

Head over to Shannon's for more WFMW tips.