Round Up Your Dreams With Lara Krupicka’s “Family Bucket Lists”

My family sat down with Lara Krupicka’s Family Bucket Lists this summer and made our individual bucket lists. And we had a blast!

In fact, the lists are still hanging on the refrigerator, where I can see what’s on them often. And they always remind me of one important thing…

We are all individuals. We may be members of the same tiny tribe, but we are each unique with distinct hopes and dreams. And this is always a good thing for parents to remember, right?

As the world gets scarier and more unpredictable, it’s easy to revert to safe spaces and homogeneity and cling to what seems most secure.

But I  believe that the world is being shaken up so we can all wake up and realize how much potential we each can bring to the table — today and in the future.

I would like to see a world where there is less clinging to the past and what is known and more daring to express and more moving forward.

I think that the future is going to be much more communally expressive than the world that we parents have inherited. I think the future belongs to strong, grounded, creative types, who are not afraid of sharing what they feel and sense.

I think the leaders of the future will think and behave more genuinely, like children. They will be bold, brave, and undaunted and they will make choices based on what is positive, playful, and constructive instead of imitating the ways some of our leaders make choices today.

I think it’s an important part of my job as a parent to encourage my daughter’s self-expression and keep encouraging it as she grows up, while also continuing to express myself and grow.

All of these are reasons why I believe that Family Bucket Lists by Lara Krupicka is more important than you might assume at a glance.

A lot of folks think that a “bucket list” is a bunch of fun, seasonal things to do, but that’s actually not the true definition of bucket list.

Read on to learn more about what bucket lists actually are and how they can become a powerful bonding tool for your family.

I think creating family bucket list is a profound exercise in exploring who and what we are and in encouraging our kids to do the same. And I think it’s important to bond with kids based on who they say they are and not just who we would like them to be.

Making these lists is one small step towards creating a beautiful future and throwing off the bridles of the past that no longer work for any of us.

I hope you will join me in spreading the word about Lara Krupicka’s new e-book, Family Bucket Lists, and begin your own families bucket list adventure together soon.

I also highly recommend downloading Lara’s free inspirational poster, The Bucket List Life Manifesto here.

What is a family bucket list? Are there a variety of types of family bucket lists?

A family bucket list is an inventory of how a family wants to spend their time together, typically during the childhood years. It’s about where they want to go, traditions they want to observe, events they want to attend and so much more. One family could certainly have multiple bucket lists. I encourage my readers to think through four types of lists while they are brainstorming. But all these could be combined into a family bucket list, too.

Why should families and family members work on bucket lists? What was your goal in writing this e-book?

Family bucket lists offer a playful format for living the childhood years more intentionally. My goal for families was to give them a whimsical way to explore their hopes and longings and not only share these with each other, but enjoy living their lists out together. So many moms tell me how busy and exhausted they are with trying to keep up with daily life. I would never want to add to that busyness. But I had noticed that some of our best times together as a family were when we rallied together to accomplish a goal one (or all) of us had.

How are family bucket lists different than other types of bucket lists?

The traditionally defined bucket list relates to the lifetime goals of an individual – what a person wants to do or see before they die. Family bucket lists are less morbid. They reflect a shorter scope of time and are a collective effort. In other words, what a family puts on their list may intersect with the bucket lists of individuals in the family, but contains goals for what the family will do as a whole before the kids are grown and gone.

I have seen a tendency toward showmanship in some bucket lists, where it appears the whole goal of the list is to impress others. I don’t think this competitive attitude serves families, though. I hope Family Bucket Lists readers will create is a personal list that is meaningful to each individual. Because the more invested we are in our own lists, the more likely we will be to accomplish our goals (and feel fulfilled while achieving them).

How have family bucket lists impacted your family members?

Our whole family has embraced a sense of adventure and a willingness to try new things since we created our lists. This summer we visited Sleeping Bear Dunes (among National Geographic’s 100 Places That Can Change Your Child’s Life), which we wouldn’t have done if we hadn’t compiled a list of places we want to see using our Family Bucket List. While we were there, my husband took the initiative to book us a kayaking trip (something none of us had ever done before). It was a lot of fun and generated much less complaining than our previous attempts at exploring.

Have family bucket lists changed the way you parent?

I’m learning to be more hands-off. My girls’ bucket lists are their own. I’ll facilitate them accomplishing their goals, but I don’t push. My oldest daughter has dreams of being a world-class sprinter and she shows a lot of promise. But she’s also currently dealing with an injury and I have had to hold back from using that goal as an incentive to get her to work harder on recovery. It’s up to her to decide whether it’s worth pushing herself or not.

Families are so busy these days, how much time does it take to work on family bucket lists?

Getting a family bucket list going doesn’t have to take much time at all. In the book I suggest a few ways to work on the list, one of them being to schedule a family fun night where you spend part of the time answering the family bucket list questions. Depending on your crew, you might not get through all the questions in one sitting. And that’s okay. But I think it is important for families to work through all of the questions at some point so they have a variety of goals to anticipate and plan. Just because a family is busy, doesn’t mean the opportunities to talk about shared aspirations aren’t available.

A bucket list is an organic document. It should grow and flex with your family as all the members grow. One bucket list experience may give rise to another. Keep adding to your list!

If I am a parent who has never done bucket lists before, what kind of immediate benefits can I expect my family to experience? And are there any long-term benefits of using family bucket lists?

The list-making process can be a great period of insight and bonding. Taking the time to listen to what your family members say excites them is an investment in your relationship (and their answers may surprise you). When a child expresses a desire to tackle a new venture, you have the opportunity to offer support and encouragement. What we’ve seen in our family is that the support becomes reciprocal. My kids love it when my husband or I get to experience one of our bucket list dreams.

When football season started at the high school (my eldest is a freshman this year), they balked at going to the first football game. I found myself explaining to my girls that The Krupicka family supports our high school by attending sporting events. My husband agreed. We have always used the phrase “the Krupicka family does/doesn’t…” but our family bucket list helps define what else this phrase might include. I realized that attending high school games is something new we needed to add to our family’s bucket list. In the long run, our shared bucket list has helped clarify who we are as a family. It’s much easier to communicate expectations about certain things when you have that document to refer back to.

From family to family there will be a great variety in what each bucket list looks like. You can learn a lot about a family by looking at what they hope to experience and accomplish together.

Thanks to Lara Krupicka for her time and excellent work on Family Bucket Lists!

Your turn: Have you ever created a personal bucket list? Have you tried bucket list making with your kids or family? Tell us about it in the comments!