Family Friday– The one list every family needs, but few ever create!

What is the most priceless gift you can give your children (besides life and unconditional love)? Experience – plain and simple.

Both the once-in-a-lifetime extraordinary adventures and somewhat ordinary everyday living that shape their worldview. Experience that gives them firsthand knowledge of the infinite colors, shapes and textures of life and what it means to live theirs to the fullest.

Thinking about this made me realize that although I had created a ‘Bucket List’ for myself, I neglected to create a similar list that documented what I want to share with my daughter before she left home. A ‘Family Bucket List’ so to speak, without the morbid connotation.

Our Family Adventure List (in no particular order)…

• Participate in an act of hands-on charity

• See the Wonders of the World (Maybe not all of them, but attempt to give her a head start!)

• Meet an artist

• Eat something really weird

• Build a secret fort

• Attend a world festival

• Experience culture shock

• See wildlife outside the zoo

• Ride a horse

• Tell ghost stories around a campfire

• Interview a public figure

• Live in a foreign country

• Try something difficult (The mom in me says nothing dangerous though!)

• Go to summer camp

• Learning another language outside the classroom

• Sit on the top of a mountain

• Build something by hand

• Play Monopoly

• Explore a metropolitan city on foot

• Write a travel journal

• Spend a summer reading books

• Compete in a science fair

• Bake a pie

• Rescue an animal

• About creating a Family Adventure List

Writing a Family Adventure list is more than creating an 18-year to-do list – it’s about connecting with your values, about what you want for your children. I want my daughter to try (and possibly fail) at difficult challenges and learn a love of life by exploring the wonders of the world (official and unofficial).

I purposely included everyday seemingly mundane activities, like baking a pie and reading books, and things from my childhood that I would love to share with my daughter, like riding a horse and playing monopoly. I left out the life lessons she would experience without me, the normal growing up stuff that just happens.

Take a moment to think about your Family Adventure List and share your thoughts in our comments below! We’d love to hear what you think!