Special Day with Mom

I grew up as the oldest of 4 children. Life was always pretty hectic around our house, and my brothers and I often had to compete for our parents' attention. It was especially bad during the summer, when we were all home from school and often reciting that familiar mantra "Mom, I'm bored."

One summer my mom came up with a great idea. She scheduled a babysitter for 4 days out of the summer. Then she wrote each of our names on the calendar on one of those days. That was our special day with mom. There were very few guidelines concerning that day. We each had $10 to spend anyway we wanted. We could go anywhere we wanted, as long as it was legal and moral. That was it. Oh the planning we did. My brother, Brad, decided on a matinee. Justin wanted to go to the comic book store. Charles wanted to go to the toy store.

When my day arrived, I decided to go window shopping at the mall. My mom and I looked at clothes, toys, jewelry, and knickknacks. I think my mom was thrilled to do some "girl stuff". At the end of our day, we headed over to Coco's restaurant for hot fudge Sundays! Yum!

Every summer my mom continued this tradition. And every summer my mom and I would spend the day at the mall, followed by hot fudge Sundays at Coco's. Now that my mom is getting older and is not in the best of health, it's a memory I will treasure forever. And it's a tradition I'm going to start this summer with my own children. I wonder what they'll each decide to do with a free day and $10?

This post is my entry for Scribbit's Write-Away Contest for June. For more information on the contest, click here.

Related Tags: traditions, summer, kids