I’m a mom, stepmom, and theatre educator helping exhausted parents access their inner creative playfulness for more connection and joy. No messy crafts, complicated setups, or sensory bins here! Just simple, silly moments that bring your family back together through laughter. My short weekly emails share reflections from real life and a simple invitation you can try for yourself or with your kids.
Hadn't cried in a WHILE until Friday evening...
|
I am historically very emotional person. A CRIER. But to be vulnerable with you, since taking medication for my anxiety, the tears don't come as often. I'm not complaining, per se, because I still feel my feelings, just not quite as heightened all the time... but it is a little weird when I feel like I need to cry but kind of... can't? Anyway, last Friday an unexpected spider-related incident happened that made me really upset (I'M OKAY MOM, I know you're reading this, yes I'll text you!) and it led to a big old CRY. My friend Jen (yes, the one I wrote about in last week's email, she's having her moment in my email spotlight) said she likes to call it "cleaning out the pipes." At first I was kind of a jerk in my head about it... "I don't WANT to clean out my pipes with BAD stuff! HMPH! 😤" I snorted to myself. But then... just a couple hours later, I was driving the kids to meet up with some of our friends and there was a moment where my toddler was crying because she didn't want her seatbelt on... All three of them (yes, including herself) started singing the song we always sing to calm her down... and it was so so SO sweet and beautiful. Then, once she was calm again, we put back on the song we were listening to and they were all just bobbing their heads together and smiling at each other as they listened. WHEW! The tears came easily. Tears of gratitude, joy... the conscious thought of, "Oh. My. GOSH, this is the life I dreamed of." There was another moment later that night when I cried with gratitude again because my stepdaughter picked up all the ziplock bags lil sis had dumped out... all on her own, without me asking her too. I thought about what Jen said... I guess I HAD "cleaned out the pipes" a bit from the bad thing. But it made room for me to more deeply feel the GOOD things. And for that insight I'm very grateful. My invitation for you this week: If something sad or bad happens and you need to cry (and have the capacity)... maybe let yourself? You might just need to clear out your pipes a little so that you can really feel the good stuff, too. Cheering you on always, Mia 💞 MORE FROM PLAYFUL HEART PARENTING: My all-time favorite improv games for family connection! Prompt-based games and easy, silly moment ideas (1500+ prompts and counting!) 11 core strategies for using play as a tool for more ease and joy in parenting. |
Playful Heart Parenting
I’m a mom, stepmom, and theatre educator helping exhausted parents access their inner creative playfulness for more connection and joy. No messy crafts, complicated setups, or sensory bins here! Just simple, silly moments that bring your family back together through laughter. My short weekly emails share reflections from real life and a simple invitation you can try for yourself or with your kids.
Steve and I were overdue for a date night, and luckily, the stars aligned for that to happen last Friday night. When we finished dinner, we realized we had a whole hour before we needed to head home... Steve said, "So, what do you wanna do now?" "Honestly?" I said, "I want to find a bench to sit on with you and play games." "Okay," he said. He knew it would make me so happy. But little did he know HE was the one who was going to end up like THIS: Yep. That's my husband who was laughing so...
Yesterday our dear friends were over and just before it was time for them to go home, the witching hour had started. My son’s best friend was running around, sticking out his tongue and blowing wet raspberries at everyone, spit included. actual footage We told him to stop. We told him “spit stays in your mouth.” But it was the end of a long day, and he literally was not hearing us… you know when kids are dysregulated and just on another level? It was that. To make matters worse, my son picked...
(Hey, that subject line rhymes!) We just got back from our first big family adventure visiting family across the country, and as usual I was in hustle-and-bustle mode, drenched in sweat from packing… already running late as usual for our fam… (Side note, I used garbage bags and then sat on them to press out all the air and semi-vacuum-seal our clothes and I felt like a GENIUS… I am going to pretend I discovered this so don’t correct me if I’m wrong, let me have this 🏆) When we got to security...