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.
I keep learning this lesson... can you relate?
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I'm at my worst as a parent when I feel pressured to do things a certain way. For example: I lost touch with my silly side when I became a stepmom because I felt pressure to maintain strict routines and discipline. It wasn’t until I embraced my own style that I found my playfulness again. I relearned that lesson again while potty training my son this past month. I confidently went for the popular three-day method that had worked well for my stepdaughter. I committed to playfulness along the way, keeping things silly and fun. Yet on day five, I was googling “potty training broke me.” Despite his progress, we were both emotionally drained. The all-or-nothing approach just wasn’t working for us. I called my husband, sobbing, “I need to take a step back." Defeated, I bought some pull-ups, despite ALL the advice against it... But, by “giving up," I feel like I succeeded. Now, we're taking it easy with more freedom and flexibility, and he's making progress at his own pace. We're all happier and much less stressed. Here’s the beauty about incorporating *playfulness* into potty training: Three-day method? Playfulness will help. Taking it slow and easy? Playfulness will help. If potty training is in your future, download this FREE list of my favorite 11 creative, silly ideas: If you’re past that stage, think about something you can “bless and release,” as Susie of @busytoddler says! Did potty training go as you expected? Have you ever felt pressured to do something a certain way? Reply and let me know. I love hearing from you! Love, Mia P.S. I’m excited to share that I landed my first "sponsored" IG post with a brand I love, featuring this playful potty resource. I wanted to send it to you first as a thanks for staying in touch. Future collaborations like this will help me continue offering free, valuable content. Your engagement on the upcoming post will be more appreciated than you know! 🙏🏽 P.P.S. I'm experimenting with sending short, weekly emails to keep in touch. I’ll still be posting on Instagram but focusing more here to ensure you see my content. Thanks for sticking around! |
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.
Welp... just realized I never sent an email last week! If I didn't notice, I'm willing to bet nobody else did either... but just in case you were sad about it, here's this week's email a day early 😂 I recently told my therapist that, other than playing games as a family, I don't really do anything to relax and unwind that's just for ME. Some of my friends read fantasy romance novels. Some watch TV shows. I don't really have a "thing" and whenever I have downtime I find myself trying to cram...
An unfortunately true haiku: Virus number fourWe should just get a punch cardBetter be the last 🙃 My invitation for you this week: Find a moment to stop the scroll (literally or figuratively) and give your brain a mini-creativity break. Like making up a haiku! (5 syllables, then 7, then five). Cheering you on always (and hoping next week’s email mentions nothing of germs), Mia P.S. FAMPROV is available to preorder for a couple more weeks at the earlybird price! Info below :) MORE FROM PLAYFUL...
I don’t know about you, but we are on our THIRD virus within a month. Over it!! 😩 Yesterday was just one of those days where I felt tempted to go into “woe is me” mode (and I did slip into it a few times, let’s be honest!) One super random thing that helped me a little bit was a game I played in my own head throughout the day… and it all started with a stinkbug lying dead on the floor next to the couch. For some reason the phrase “Stinkbug Revival” popped into my head (don’t ask why because I...