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As far as celebrating goes, we didn’t feel like traveling far or fighting the crowds to see fireworks. But we did see an explosion – right in our front yard! We did a super fun volcano kid’s activity, and I’m not sure who enjoyed it more – the kids or my husband!
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We’ve been making cookie pizza for years. I remember making one to share with my classmates back in college and it was a huge hit! And while there are tons of different recipes for cookie pizza on Pinterest, my quick and easy 4th of July cookie pizza is great because it starts with a pouch of store-bought sugar cookie mix. It’s also a super versatile recipe – you can customize it for any holiday. A heart pizza for Valentine’s Day, a Christmas tree for Christmas, a margarita shaped pizza for World Margarita Day. Ha! (It’s in February FYI.) The possibilities are endless!
My kids absolutely love making fruit pizza. They like spreading the frosting, placing the fruit, and drizzling the topping. And the fruit totally makes this a healthy recipe, right?
My quick and easy 4th of July cookie pizza is a perfect dessert to take to a 4th of July potluck or barbecue. Just wait and arrange the fruit and drizzle the marmalade at the last minute. It doesn’t keep well (it starts to get mushy) so make sure you eat all of it in one sitting. Which isn’t hard for my family to do!
I can’t be the only one out there who doesn’t really enjoy playing with their kids, right?
Am I alone in this?
I love my children. They are the sunshine in my life. I love exploring new places with them, playing outside, taking walks, traveling, going on adventures, doing puzzles, cooking together, doing crafts together, and watching movies with them.
But sitting on the floor in the playroom all afternoon?
No thank you. Not my idea of a good time.
I can’t be the only one who feels this way! In fact, I think playing with our kids for hours is a relatively new thing in our society. I’m sure Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Ma was way too busy milking the cows, washing laundry by hand, and baking bread from scratch to sit down and play with Laura and her sisters for hours. And all I saw Betty Draper do on Mad Men was sit in her kitchen and smoke. Yes, I know it’s just a TV show. And her kids didn’t turn out well anyway… But you see my point!
So with all of that being said, if you’re reading this and you’re the type of mom that loves nothing more than playing dolls, legos, and action figures all day – that’s great! Props to you, mama! But I’m not that type of mom. And please don’t judge me because of it.
I’ve learned over the years there are a few things I can do to make playing with my kiddos a little more bearable.
If you’ve been to Atlanta, chances are you’ve heard of Stone Mountain, one of the largest exposed masses of granite in the world. (Fun fact – I worked at Stone Mountain Park for years!) We still live pretty close and visit often to enjoy the attractions and climb the mountain.
Stone Mountain’s walk-up trail is located near the west entrance to the park and is a 1-mile trek up to the top of the mountain. The trail is open from dawn until dusk, and if you decide to climb up, you’ll get to experience some amazing views of the surrounding scenery and (on clear days) views of the Atlanta skyline.
But every mom knows that all of those ideas go out the window when the nurse places your first baby in your arms.
You realize it’s all about survival in the beginning. And after a while, you end up doing what works for you and your baby. The longer you’re a mom, the less you care about what other people think and the more you rely on your instincts and what is working for your family.
That being said, when I was pregnant with my first child, I had a lot of great ideas about how I’d raise my kids and the type of mom I would be. As a first-time-mom (FTM), I knew that my kids would be different and I would be different. I would be the best mom and my kids would only get the best.
But now that I’m a seasoned mom…I’d like to go back and tell FTM Holly to STFU!
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