Well if there weren’t kids involved, I’d suggest eating dessert first but I don’t think that would work. 

I don’t know how to decorate for backwards night either.  Maybe pick ugly colors instead of pretty ones?

I look forward to this new activity though, I love this kind of stuff.  Especially the idea stage (not so much the work stage)

The family nights look like fun!  But I always think they look like a TON of work, too, and I don’t know if I’d be able to do them.  Low energy, remember?

What a fun idea! 

I don’t know if anyone will want to try this, but I read in Family Fun magazine (a long time ago) an idea for eating dinner backwards:  Make a meatloaf and bake it in a round cake pan.  Then you ‘frost’ it with mashed potatoes and decorate it with cooked peas.  The one they did in the magazine was SO CUTE.  So then you are eating dessert first!  Then for the meal (actually dessert), I think they made a big sugar cookie on a pizza pan and decorated it with little round splotches of red jam to look like pepperoni. 

When are you planning on having your backwards night? 

i am AWFUL at this stuff- i have NEVER had a family fun night…. but i do read all of these people’s blogs that have them, and i have considered it….

soooo, maybe if we hold each other accountable and attempt it i’m in…. otherwise i think i’ll just watch everyone else parent well…

we did a backwards party for kids friends when school started as our back to school shin dig a few years back… same things mentioned here… kids were parents, ate dessert first… sat under tables… wore clothes backwards… one boy showed up with his undies outside of his pants

Decorations:  we wrote words and place cards backwards… had upside down candles… turned pictures on the wall backwards…put glow sticks on the ground so the light source was down not up…

We read I can read with my eyes shut by Dr. Seuss and played a game where

I wrote out goofy cards with things like… there’s a fish on the wall

and they had to read it with their eyes shut and so they would make up funny things

Our Family Is His,

I actually meant that we’d eat on the floor..as in under the table – my floor is SO not clean enough to eat off of…

Great idea about documenting the fun nights. I think they’ll really have fun down the road looking back at what will hopefully be a long running tradition.

Amy,

You know, I think eating dessert first would be really fun and novel. We don’t eat many desserts around here, so to have a dessert AND eat it first would be a huge highlight for my kids. Good idea!

Mamasboy,

I think that’s awesome that you read and play with the kids. That’s the sign of a good dad.

And you gave me a good idea for fun night. We can play Candyland…backwards.

Lisa H,

That’s a fun idea! I might have to combine that idea with Amy’s of eating the dessert first.

Right now we’re planning to have our Family Fun Nights on Fridays.

Whittakerwoman,

Oh, I love the flower idea. That’s hilarious! Thanks for all the inspiration…

Randel,

I’m not good abotu doing them either. I tried it once and the kids loved it….and I’ve not done it again. How awful is that?

So that’s why I’m hoping we come come together and create something cool.

Mark Whitlock,

Sounds like a GREAT book. I’ll go check it out…

Charity,

Such fun ideas. I especially like the one about hanging the pictures backwards. I think the kids will have a ball coming up with ways to decorate for Backwards night…

I can’t remember where I heard it but have a dinner for breakfast (like spaghetti) and breakfast for dinner. Sometimes when I’m totally lazy I offer my son a backwards day dinner and we have cereal or oatmeal. He loves it! Here’s a link to some of the Family Fun Magazine recipes. Good luck!

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/family/specialfeature/aprilfools-food-pranks-ms/

I was *just* thinking about how to get creative with family time!

I ain’t got no ideas.

BUT…

I am really looking forward to gleaning the great ideas from everyone else!