I HATE Apples!

What do you do when one of your children decides they don't like something anymore?  Especially something so essential to the school lunch box as apples!  That is the delemma I found myself in earlier this week.  My daughter decided that she doesn't like apples anymore.  This is not a good thing when my refridgerator is full of them.  So, can you guess what I did?  I got out my old fashioned apple peeler, corer, and ring maker, and put it on the counter.  Three sets of eyes followed my every movement.  Than, I took an apple out of the fridge and proceeded to put it on the apparatus.  Immediately, Mikayla rushed to take over the task. 
And so we made apples a new treat.

We found a new way to enjoy an old snack.  Kayla peeled and cored and made apple rings from the first apple.  Oh yeah, it was fun!

Mikayla discovered that there is something good about nice and neat and sweet.  And it really seemed to make them taste so much better!  Remember all those apples that I mentioned were just sitting in my fridge?  They are gone now.  So, tonight I have to take the long trip to the store to buy a few (or a lot) more. 

There is something comforting in doing things the old fashioned (or might I say, FUN) way. 

I have found that life can be a little like Mikayla's feelings about apples.  Sometimes we seem to get stuck in a rut and we can't seem to remember why we loved what we were doing before.  I know that every once in awhile, I can't seem to remember why I love being a mom.  The whinning, crying, fighting, messes, arguing, fixing, breaking, wonderful things that seem to blind my eyes to the actual reality of the situation.  We get so used to seeing the same things every day, that we forget why we enjoyed them in the first place.  The rut gets bigger and we can't seem to see our way out. 

I have found that a little dose of fun can go a long way toward fixing most of the problems.  I think that is one of the reasons that Family Nights are so precious to us.  We learn to have fun together.  We play games, we listen, we learn, but most of all we laugh!  And I remember why I love my family so much.  Their endless supply of giggles and laughter give me the strength to carry on for another week.  A little laughter helps me look at things just a little bit differently. 

The apple is still an apple, but for some reason, it is so much more appetizing when it involves a little fun.