To add more fun to yesterday, we dyed our eggs.

 

The key word is fun. You see I used to let my perfectionist ways interfere with fun. I would take control of the whole process. I would set everything up tell the kids to start then correct them the entire time. I would tell them they are doing it wrong. That it didn’t look good.

 

Looking back I realize I took all the fun out of it. I didn’t give them a chance to express themselves or their creativity. I also took all the learning out of it. I didn’t give them the chance to learn how to do it themselves. (And I wondered why my 12 year old can’t peel a banana 🙄) Yesterday I let them choose the colors they wanted. I let them dye the eggs anyway they wanted without direction from me. I did explain to Em and JD what they needed to do but I let them go after that. If they want to stir the colors a lot or a little, it was up to them. I wasn’t sure how they would turn out. But did it really matter? No! It did not matter what they looked like in the end. What mattered was how they felt doing it.

I rinsed the Cool Whip and food coloring off this morning…and they look awesome!!! And we all have a memory of fun and smiles instead of criticism and tears.