I’m excited that we have moved closer to many of my
nieces. I’ve been away for so many years
that I’ve missed out on a lot in their lives.
The reality of everyone’s busy life tells me, though, that living closer
doesn’t necessarily mean being more closely connected. So… I’ve decided to hold an annual “Aunt B’s
Nieces’ Night Out!”
Purpose:
·
To build forever
friendships with and among my nieces.
·
To leave a legacy and
make memories that will last for generations of nieces to come.
·
To have lots of fun, good
food and most importantly fellowship.
Who will I invited: Nieces, wanna-be nieces (engaged to one of my
nephews), honorary nieces (married to one of my nephews), great-nieces and
great-great nieces.
First year’s theme:
“All in the Family”.
While I’m still having fun planning, I’m considering:
Activities:
§
Interview Game - Pair up each guest with the person
they know the least. Give each person a
list of personal family questions, such as how many children do you have, what
type of work do you do, favorite family vacation spot, and most embarrassing family
nickname. Have each person interview the
other for five minutes, then talk about their partner to the group.
§
Family Trivia - Before the party, ask guests to tell
me a little-known fact about themselves. At the party, have someone read the facts aloud
and have guests guess who the mystery person is. The one with the most correct guesses will
win a gift.
§
Favorite family dishes - Before the party, ask guests to send me a recipe card
for a favorite family dish, i.e. grandma’s homemade noodles. Ask them to bring the prepared dish to the
party for our meal that first evening.
Have the guests vote for their favorite dish. The winning chef will receive a gift. Compile the recipes cards into a keepsake family
cookbook.
§
Cultural Recipes – Prepare a meal of dishes
related to our family culture.
§
The
Family Tree – Make or purchase a tree from which to hang childhood pictures
of my nieces. Place a number on the back
of each picture and have the guests guess who is in each picture. The one with the most correct answers will
win a prize.
§
Story
telling – Share a memory about cousins, aunt & nieces, a family event,
etc. As Madeleine L’Engle says,
If you don’t recount your family
history, it will be lost.
Honor your own stories and tell
them too.
The tales may not seem very
important,
but they are what binds families
and
makes each of us who we are.
§
Family
Heritage table – Family photo albums. Copies of genealogy for each guest. Culturally appropriate flags, symbols,
flowers etc.
§
Gifts -
Family history oriented. Family
keepsakes etc.
§
Care
packages – Work together to prepare for nieces/cousins unable to attend.
While I’m having fun planning activities, I want to leave
plenty of time to just visit, peruse albums, and reminisce together, etc. I’m getting excited! As I’m planning, I keep pondering a quote I
read from Lee Iacocca,
No matter what you’ve done for
yourself or for humanity,
if you can’t look back on having
given love
and
attention to your own family,
what have you really
accomplished?
I don’t want to look back and feel as though I’ve
accomplished nothing.
Whole-Heartedly,
Bonnie
P.S. Please
feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder
or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/. You may also contact me at:
Bonnie
Jaeckle
In Search
of the Whole-Hearted Life
Diagonal
Progress
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment