Just call us the Fun-Killers

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fun-killers

“I can’t believe you’re being so MEAN!” our 11-year-old daughter told my husband and me. “You guys are the Fun-Killers!”

Yep. That’s us. Mr. & Mrs. Fun-Killer.

My family is blessed to live in the best neighborhood on the planet. Call me biased, but we live on a safe, picturesque street surrounded by wonderfully friendly people. We love our neighbors so much in fact that my husband and I – who’d been planning for a decade to move up north closer to his family – abandoned this plan and agreed to stay in Brown County indefinitely.

There’s no less than a dozen kids on our block, so there’s never a shortage of playmates for our two daughters. The adults are also super fun; we all get along so well that we’re forever holding (sometimes planned but mostly impromptu) block parties, bonfires and Packer potlucks. Which admittedly leads to some late nights. Which is where the Fun-Killers come in.

One night this summer, while the adults were congregating around yet another bonfire, pretty much all the neighborhood kids got involved in a hotly contested game of Kick the Can. When we finally realized how late it had become, my husband and I went on a recon mission to find our daughters – not an easy task in the dark, especially since they were hiding and had changed into black Ninja costumes. Our older daughter was ridiculously upset that she had to go inside when children younger than her were still being allowed to stay up. She lost her cool. She called us “the Fun-Killers.” I think it’s funny, now. At the time, I was not impressed.

One of the challenges of living in such a close-knit neighborhood is navigating these emotional scenes at times when our parenting priorities are not necessarily identical. My husband and I readily admit that we have very early bedtimes for our girls. Because we know our kids. They need sleep.

We say “no” to sleepovers a LOT – mainly because when we do get a free weekend at home to spend with our girls, we don’t want to spend it with overtired, cranky kids. Sometimes being a Fun-Killer and saying “no” to a Saturday sleepover has led to a peaceful Sunday afternoon hike at Barkhausen Wildlife Preserve, a family bike ride on the Fox River Trail or a trip to Apple Valley Orchard – all of which were, ironically, quite fun.

I’m certainly not trying to say that our rules and parenting methods are any better or any worse than anyone else’s – they’re just different. Uniquely ours. And the last two years have really forced us, as parents, to look at our kids as individuals and identify our priorities as a family. The challenge comes in sticking to those priorities, even in the face of a devastated 11-year-old Ninja. But we do our best.

That’s not to say our girls will never be allowed to have a sleepover at the neighbors’ or stay up late playing Kick the Can. Just that more often than not, the answer is probably going to be “no.” Sigh. Just call us the Fun-Killers.

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