The Daily Reminder – Day 2: Kids + Play

Let me be honest about something. Right now, I am not great at playing.

I used to be GREAT at playing. And then somewhere along the line, I stopped being good at it. I started being too busy, too tired, too annoyed. EEK.

It isn’t that my body isn’t physically capable of playing. I am blessed to have a pretty decent body who can keep up with 4 kids (most of the time – keep in mind…NO ONE is keeping up with my 9-year-old – he literally has energy for days!!). It is just that I am too lazy or believe I will become too “stressed” if I don’t finish whatever task I have in front of me. Remember that to-do list?? Guess how often “play with kids” was on that list?

Um. Never. (#notgoingtofeelshame)

And remember how often I said I would actually complete my daily to-do list?

Again. Um. Never. (#eventhoughIneversitdown)

Here’s the truth in my life and maybe in your life: There will never be enough time to complete everything I could get done around the house or with my work. But there will come a day when my kids won’t want to play with me – and I am missing it! So today, I will focus on that.

If they seek me out to play, I will play. If they don’t seek me out, I will find a way to seek them out to engage in something fun with them.

(For those of you with older kids: You can still “play”. It may mean playing a video game or two. It may mean shooting hoops or soccer. It may mean learning to play that guitar (or trying!). The point to “play” is: 1. To have fun! and 2. To let it be about them. See what you can do!)

RECAP from Day 1

How did everyone do with Day 1?? How was it to really “see” your kids?  This was an interesting thing for me because, as a psychologist who specializes in working with kids, I felt like I had a pretty good handle on my kids’ personalities, strengths and weaknesses. And although I still think some of those things are true, I started to notice those things that would drive me crazy about my kids began to make a little more sense. Since I was not so wrapped up in all the things I needed to get done, I was able to see the context and what was really at the heart of what they were trying to communicate.

And guess what…?? I got a lot of stuff done too! Grading, emails, planning… Even without a to-do list… 🙂

It’s amazing what a little perspective shift can do. At lunch, I was reflecting with my boys about how it was “a great morning”, and at the end of the day, my son said to me, “Mom, this was a great day.”

I know everyday of this experiment won’t work out this way, but gosh darn…I’ll take this win!

photo cred – Suzy Hazelwood (pexels.com)