Enliven daily routine by involving children

Has it been a while since you let your hair down as a parent? Well, today’s the day to start. And it’s easy to get in the mode when you include your children in the day’s events.

Thirty-four-year-old Margo Farrell, marketing researcher and mom to 5-year-old daughter Arianna and 1-year-old son Lucas, has discovered that you can make everyday moments special with the kids, even when checking off errands on a “to-do” list.

“My husband and I lived in West London, England, for five years where we enjoyed walking from our home to the post office, hardware store, restaurants and boutiques,” she says.

“Walking was such an integral and pleasant part of our lifestyle that we intentionally looked for a family home in a ‘walking community’ when we returned to the states.”

Now in Minneapolis, walking to neighborhood shops to do Saturday errands has become routine.

“The kids look forward to the jaunt all week long,” she says. “There is so much joy in discovering what is around us, right where we live.”

Do-together summer ideas:

•On a walk in a park, along a shoreline or in the woods, tell your children to be on the lookout for nature’s “chairs,” such as a smooth-sided boulder, tree stump or a cozy patch of grass.

•Tell a story from the point of view of a squirrel, blue jay or the ant crawling on your cookie.

•Visit your local zoo and let your kids be the safari photographers. Organize the photos on your computer when you return, for your own family nature show.

•Sit on a hillside or special viewing spot and watch a sunset on a summer evening. Take turns describing the sky.