As a Sara Lee MOMent Maker, this post is part of a series on making family moments. Sara Lee has provided me with compensation and coupons in return for this post. Participation in this program is voluntary; all opinions are my own. My love for strawberry shortcake is long standing, and definitely my own.
We don't have dessert every night around here. Not because we're against it or anything, it's just that, for starters, we have 3 kids (2 of them teenagers) and food of any sort in our house doesn't tend to stay around for very long, so there's often nothing to have, and dessert kind of implies that we're all at home to enjoy it together after an organized meal.
Let's just say that this time of year that doesn't happen as much as it should. Spring is really, really busy around these parts, and I feel a little guilty sometimes that we're often going our separate ways at meal time.
I LOVE strawberry shortcake, but don't always have time to prepare it, so I picked up a Sara Lee® Strawberry Shortcake since it's one we'd never tried before, thinking I'd save it for a special occasion we could enjoy together. 
Only? See my statement 3 paragraphs ago. It's hard to get everyone home for dinner at the same time, so there never seemed to be a good time to have it.
Since the good folks at Sara Lee encourage us to Make Moments, I decided I'd try to stop waiting for the the perfect meal to pull it out.
Late one night, we were all in the kitchen (having eaten dinner at different times for various reasons) and somebody said, "Hey, we're all home at the same time, we ought to throw a party, or something."
So we did:
At first, I thought it wasn't the family moment I had envisioned (note post-rugby match look of my middle child), but then I realized it was better. We had a spontaneous celebration of just being together. Creating a family memory doesn't have to be reserved for special occasions, and dessert doesn't have to be complicated or formal.
The giveaway
The prize: Five (5) commenters will each win one (1) coupon for a FREE any ONE (1) Sara Lee® Sweet Goods product valued up to $6.00 (expires 7/31/2011)
1. (Required): Tell us (comment below) about one of your favorite spontaneous family moments.
2. For an extra entry, tweet about this contest (I'm @busymom), and be sure to leave a separate comment with a link to your tweet.
2. Five (5) winners will be picked randomly via Random.org from the comments.
3. Contest is open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older
4. Winners have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise another winner will be drawn.
5. Hurry! Ends May 18, 2011 at 10 pm CST
Also, please come by my blog, Busymom.net and say "hi" if you're so inspired!
Comments (19)
It snowed one night, and we all went out sledding really late and took pictures.
Posted by Carolyn | May 11, 2011 1:38 PM
Posted on May 11, 2011 13:38
Last week after my kids won their baseball game we loaded up and went out for ice cream. Totally spontaneous and out of character for me. It was already 8:30 on a weeknight!
Thanks for the opportunity!
Posted by Headless Mom | May 12, 2011 10:53 AM
Posted on May 12, 2011 10:53
Tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/HeadlessMom/status/68705592679731200
Posted by Headless Mom | May 12, 2011 10:57 AM
Posted on May 12, 2011 10:57
Hey, this looks great and would love to try some -- do I really have to share it with my kids, tho?
Posted by Liz | May 12, 2011 12:00 PM
Posted on May 12, 2011 12:00
It had been a long week-kids had been sick and feeling a bit cooped up, the weather had been cold and rainy. The kids were finally feeling better one rainy afternoon so I put on "Singing in the Rain" and we had lunch. Coming back from the kitchen I noticed my two year old was missing and the slider was open. I could hear him outside singing at the top of his lungs. So out all the kids went and we confirmed the neighbor's opinion of us being a bit crazy. We sang and danced in the rain like wild people!
Posted by Natalie | May 12, 2011 4:11 PM
Posted on May 12, 2011 16:11
One of my favorite spontaneous moments with my children is about 3-4 times a year, my boys will wake me up in the middle of the night and we will go downstairs, burn some candles and eat a Sara Lee dessert by candlelight. It only takes us about 20 minutes from start to finish but it is the best 20 minutes that we spend together.
Posted by Sharon Denton | May 13, 2011 12:20 AM
Posted on May 13, 2011 00:20
We made a tent out of blanket throws & sheets, couch cushions the other night. Then had a snack in the middle of the great room, on the floor, picnic style. Hadn't done that since I was like 9 years old. My kids LOVED IT!
Posted by rajean | May 13, 2011 3:53 PM
Posted on May 13, 2011 15:53
Moments? definitely when we make cookies together, when we go to the grocery store and they learn new words.
Posted by Rory | May 13, 2011 4:11 PM
Posted on May 13, 2011 16:11
Last year because of everyone's various schedules we weren't sure that we would be able to take a vacation so right before the July 4th weekend we decided to go away for the long weekend.
Posted by Linda F | May 13, 2011 5:57 PM
Posted on May 13, 2011 17:57
It had been a night with alot of storms. We ended up losing electricity. So with nothing to do we decided to have a family board game night and just spend it together. It was nice not having electronic distractions.
Posted by Lisa Dion | May 17, 2011 6:55 AM
Posted on May 17, 2011 06:55
tweeted contest @wldflowur13
http://twitter.com/#!/wldflowur13/status/70457881656430592
Posted by Lisa Dion | May 17, 2011 6:59 AM
Posted on May 17, 2011 06:59
We had a cold snowy night last month where we popped popcorn and curled up on the couch with our two boys for a family movie. It felt like we were the only people in the world during that snow storm and I felt so lucky to have my family. We had a lot of fun!
Posted by angela p | May 17, 2011 9:57 PM
Posted on May 17, 2011 21:57
Once when we were vacationing together in Colorado, we all took Sharpies and decorated a pair of each other's underwear with pictures of Pokemon characters.
(I know. I don't understand it either. Funny, though.)
Posted by Babybloomr | May 17, 2011 10:42 PM
Posted on May 17, 2011 22:42
Once during a bad storm we gathered with blankets and told ghost stories!
Posted by Teresa Tobias | May 17, 2011 11:25 PM
Posted on May 17, 2011 23:25
Whenever extended family gathers together, a game of charades gets everyone involved and talking and laughing. Not really spontaneous... but it's one of my favorite traditional family moments.
Posted by amy324 | May 18, 2011 2:05 AM
Posted on May 18, 2011 02:05
Occasionally we'll have a day when we're all home and nothing is going right. The kids are whiny, my husband is grumpy, and the cat just barfed on the carpet. It's during these moments I'll get really fed up with everyone, and then decide to flip a switch in my head and say, "Who wants ice cream?" or "That's it, we're making cookies."
It's amazing how much a group of moods can improve when put towards a single goal. I get the kids to help me scoop ice cream or place cookie dough on the sheet (break-n-bake cookies, of course - I have no skills for "from scratch"), and suddenly we all like each other again.
(And I'm now coveting your strawberry shortcake. Yum.)
Posted by Christina | May 18, 2011 3:16 AM
Posted on May 18, 2011 03:16
We were bored one night so we packed up dinner and had an evening picnic at the park!
Posted by Sarah P | May 18, 2011 7:57 AM
Posted on May 18, 2011 07:57
I have a 16-month-old baby--every moment is spontaneous! And she loves dessert!
Posted by Lesley | May 18, 2011 8:25 AM
Posted on May 18, 2011 08:25
Hmm favorite spontaneous moment? When Mister Man asked if we could make scones and I decided to say yes. And the wee ones learned how to crack eggs all by themselves. SO much fun :)
Posted by Michelle | May 18, 2011 9:57 PM
Posted on May 18, 2011 21:57