We play dress up and “Simon Says.”

We have tea parties with faux food.

We let our children name the new family fish “Cookie.”

We eat veggies we don’t like so they will too.

We have crazy dance parties to songs like “The Wheels on the Bus” and “The B-I-B-L-E.”

We clean up endless messes and vacuum snacks from the couch cushions.

We spend free afternoons playing Battleship or basketball together.

We chauffeur to and and from sports practices.

We have birthday parties for stuffed animal friends.

Parents go all-out because raising children is one of the biggest blessings.

When they look back on their childhood, I pray they will remember all the little things we did to show how big our love was for them.

And these crazy and weird and chaotic memories will be some of the most cherished moments of a parent’s life.