Cabin in the Snow Scene (why this is fun…)

{Image credit: wallpaperup.com}

I discovered something about myself in the last couple of years as I emerged from the first stage of parenting.  I realised my increasing hunger for adventure and challenging myself. Whether that be travelling and experiencing different cultures, training for a running race or a 300 km cycle challenge. I look for opportunities to stretch myself in these ways.

Another passion of mine is the change of seasons, and embracing all the joy contained in each one.  Living in Queensland, we don’t really have a distinct change; it’s more subtle. And while I love the weather here, there’s something in me that yearns for a winter filled with snow — the cold, short days making the anticipation of Spring even sweeter.

Then there’s this need for creativity; the creative process. I’m not talking craft here.  To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of craft for crafts sake,  and neither am I fabulous at it — I find it hard to be neat!  However, I do love the creativity behind planning activities for the kids, craft that marry together things we do in our life, adventuring with my kids and travelling to different places, challenging myself to use every day items around the house in creative ways; that sort of thing.

When I embraced who I am (rather than what I’m not) and how that translates into motherhood, I found myself doing more fun things.  Thinking about fun things. Planning fun things! It’s not about limiting myself but more about embracing my own type of motherhood and sharing the joy of that with my kids.  For example, I can safely say that I pretty much never enjoy cooking with kids. Ha! Sure, I do it sometimes – yes – and my kids are starting to cook themselves too, but you know what? That’s ok.  I can still be a fun mum and NOT cook very often with my kids.

Cabin in the Snow Scene

That brings me to this snow scene I did with the kids.  I thought about it a few months ago and how fun it would be to have a project we could enjoy during the first week of the school holidays. Something we could do together and bond while we adjusted to a new routine.  As I went about life in the lead up to school holidays, I looked out for items that might inspire (I found the Schliech Aguya Ice Skating girl and Tassya Elf and put them away in the cupboard).

Then one day in the first week of the school holidays, I told the kids about my idea, and they all brainstormed with me.  Before I planned this day, I put a large container filled with water in the freezer so the “ice skating rink” would be ready for whenever this came to be.

On the day in question, we visited a few charity shops together and found the cabin for a few dollars and a piece of white material. All the kids were engaged with the idea as we hunted together. We already had a deer and we added a few extras from a toy shop in our travels.  It wasn’t about who would get what toy but more about the end goal, and I loved that. The plastic “ice tree” we found at a discount shop for $2 and for the trees, I cut pieces off an old wreath.  After we got home, we put it all together.

Materials used

Blue table cloth

Bowls and a washing basket

White material

Schleich figurines (existing and new:  Deer, Tassya, Aguya, Eyela)

Cut up pieces of tree (from an old wreath)

Mini light up Christmas tree (from discount shop)

Plastic container with ice

Ice Skating Rink

For the ice skating rink, I put a large plastic container filled with water in the freezer.   For the few days this was set up, I simply put it back in the freezer when the kids were finished and brought it back out again the next day.

We added a little water to the ice so Aguya could really skate.

Son decided there needed to be a bulldozer added to aid in moving the snow. Of course.

That night we ate dinner at the kitchen bench instead of the table and left this set up for a few days for the kids to come back to. Success. A day project we all enjoyed that added value to family life. It looked (and even felt) so magical and Christmassy!

This project was fun for everyone, including me.  It was the combination of passion and the embracement of who I am as a mother.  The idea was conceived months before but it came together effortlessly.

I’ve written posts about Not Trying to Be the Mum You’re Not and Being Confident about Being the Mum you Are and yet in practice, this is what I mean. THIS. I share all sorts of things here on the blog, but what I really want say to every mother, underneath all the ideas, there’s an undercurrent, and it’s not DO THIS, but rather be fun by embracing who you are as a mum (whatever that looks like).  Don’t worry if you dislike craft or whatever but rather bring value and connection through the living of life together, and meshing together passions and joys rather than compartmentalising and trying to fit “I should do this” activities in a designated box.

Since I’ve embraced more of this, I find I have more energy to facilitate those other activities for the kids I don’t enjoy so much too.  Win all round really. This is a little part of my journey to be a fun mum.

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