The Shopping Trip and Other Fun Memories
{!-- ra:000000002a4df008000000002b6e3985 --}{if 'The Shopping Trip and Other Fun Memories' == '52home' && category_name == '52home'} {if:else} {/if}Well, it’s the day after the Shopping Trip, and we’re a tad depressed because it will be a whole year before we can do this again. But it was great to get home to all of our men—who patiently listened to an account of our time and let us show them all the neat gifts we bought. It was a wonderful trip—best one yet, I think.
A mother of two teenage daughters mentioned to me this week that she was trying to think of a way to make a memory with her two daughters—one of them enjoys shopping and the other one doesn’t. We want to encourage all mothers and daughters to find ways to make memories together. However, we realize that like this woman’s daughter, not all of you love to shop. (We don’t quite understand this, but we realize it’s true!)
In our book, Girl Talk, we compiled a list of twenty-five ideas for making mother-daughter memories. I’m sure many more creative ideas could be added to this list, however we hope it will get you started.
1.Make reservations at a hotel or nice restaurant that serves afternoon tea.
2.Enroll in an art, cooking, or sewing class through your county or at a local retail store.
3.Take up a new sport (tennis, running, aerobics, biking, etc.).
4.Pamper yourselves. Get a facial or manicure and pedicure, or set up your own spa at home.
5.Do a service project (soup kitchen, nursing home, needy family, mom with young children, etc.).
6.Build a fire and roast marshmallows for S’mores. Play board or card games, or put a puzzle together.
7.Start a book club with some mother-daughter friends.
8.Go out for pizza and play miniature golf.
9.Do a cooking project. Bake bread or dessert, or prepare a full-course meal.
10.Get a makeover before a special event.
11.Pick fruit at a local farm and make something yummy.
12.Learn a new hobby, or spend an evening at a paint-your-own-pottery or scrapbook store.
13.Take a walk down memory lane. Watch home videos, look at family pictures, or dig up old family keepsakes. You can even use the Internet to learn what notable events occurred on the day you were born.
14.Schedule an annual mother-daughter overnight and pack it full of fun activities.
15.Do a progressive dinner and hit all your favorite restaurants in one night.
16.Take in some culture at a local art gallery or museum.
17.Go antiquing or shop at yard sales or consignment stores. See who can find the best deal.
18.Interview a relative about your family history.
19.Kidnap your daughter or your mom for a surprise outing.
20.Host a party for some mother-daughter friends. Do all the cooking and preparation together.
21.Collect decorating books or magazines and redecorate your room.
22.Pop some popcorn and watch an old movie together.
23.Have a picnic and read a book out loud, or take a drive in the country and listen to a book on tape.
24.Go to a local bookstore or coffee shop and share what you most appreciate about your daughter or mother.
25.And our personal favorite—have lunch and go shopping!
Memories like these, and many others, won’t simply last a few hours or a few days. They are an investment on which you will reap the life-long returns of a strong mother-daughter relationship.