This Banana Pudding Milkshake was designed with one purpose in mind, to make my little guy smile. We have a family tradition that on special occasions, like celebrating a sparkling report card or taking off the training wheels on a bike, we go to a local burger joint and get a milkshake. It’s our little way of marking the achievement and spending time together. Daddy and daughter always get Oreo Mint Chip Milkshakes and my son and I always get a Banana Pudding Milkshake. ALWAYS. I am no great expert on anything, but one thing I have learned over the last fourteen years of parenting is that quality time with your children comes out of ample quantity time. It cannot be fabricated or shoved into the short increments we designate for it. Quality time happens in luminous flashes… While spending hours working, playing, and talking together.
We live in a society that celebrates over-doing. People talk about their great capacity to multi-task as if they’ve won a gold medal. So often our jobs, or the people around us, place expectations on us that battle our convictions. We take on more and more responsibilities out of guilt, or in an effort to “stay in the game.” Yet really, this only promotes an unbalanced lifestyle of putting unimportant things first, leaving little time at the end of the day for the people that make our lives worth living. Who pays the price for our hectic lifestyle? Who misses out on the memory making and teachable moments when we are too busy to put down our cellphones and laptops to walk to the park? The unspoken message tauntingly blares at our children; they are not as important as our meeting, our schedule, our favorite TV show, our next phone call.
Most truly special moments, in which my husband and I were able to impart something of value that we know our children will never forget, came from doing the little things as a family. Throwing the ball in the backyard, reading stories, baking cookies, even folding the laundry together. These moments are irreplaceable, and most certainly weren’t conjured up. They just happened.
In the crazy world we live in, I make it my goal everyday to take family time seriously. Sometimes I fail. Then I look in the faces of my babies 12 and 14 year old and remember, what a short time I have to hold them, and teach them the things they need to know in order to live full and healthy lives. My prayer is that I do not squander that time for anything.
COOK’S NOTES:
This Banana Pudding Milkshake Recipe is in honor of my son, a hardcore Banana Pudding Milkshake lover. It’s simple to make and simply divine. A sure-fire way to brighten anyone’s day and let them know they are a priority in your life! I used both vanilla ice cream and vanilla pudding for the base of the banana pudding shake, because I felt the shake needed the extra umph from the pudding to create the classic banana pudding flavor.
More Milkshakes and Smoothies You’ll Love:
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