Fueling Ayva’s Brighter Future

This post was sponsored by ‘Got Milk?’ through their partnership with POPSUGAR. While I was compensated by POPSUGAR to write a post about ‘Got Milk?’, all opinions are my own.

There’s something to be said for unplugging and spending quality time with the people that you love. When I was growing up, although my mom and I didn’t always see eye to eye, she was still very much committed to intentional family time. Once a month or so, she’d plan some completely uninterrupted time with my brothers and me for game night. Monopoly, Uno, Scattergories. My mom probably owned every single board game ever manufactured.

Game night also meant we’d have a treat to make the night even more special. My mom and I both loved coconut chocolate chip cookies. The boys preferred regular chocolate chip. The one thing we all had in common, though, is that we’d all dunk our cookies in a glass of cold, delicious milk. Every single one of us agreed they tasted much better that way. It’s funny the things that we remember, huh? Board games and cookies and milk. So simple, but such a strong, positive memory of a sort of rocky childhood.

Flash forward a couple of decades, and I enjoy spending the same quality time with my family. I know that the time my husband and I spend with our daughter now, casual moments of togetherness, they’re helping to build her confidence, and making her feel loved. We’re preparing her for the future by giving her a foundation of support. That’s important for growing children. Also important? Fueling a brighter future for her by encouraging healthy habits. Drinking milk, being active, quality time spent together, all of that aids in ensuring Ayva’s success as she gets older.

I have no doubt my mom knew that, too, when she was hosting our family game nights. Although she never stated her intentions aloud, now that I’m a parent looking back, it’s clear that there was a purpose behind those milk and cookie fueled game nights. The cookies were just a diversion. The milk that we were dunking them into, and subsequently strong, healthy bones and brains, that was the objective all along. And the games? Well, she was planting seeds for our future. She was showing us that we were worth her undivided attention, and demonstrating the importance of family time with hopes that we’d pass those same lessons along to our own families.

It worked.