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.
Joy sandwiched in the chaos (and why it COUNTS!)
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The other night, I caught myself thinking something that wasn’t true. It had been one of those tricky days. But then dinner shifted everything. Just me and the kids, waiting for my husband, connecting through my favorite way: collaborative storytelling. (We each tell a few sentences, then say “popcorn!” to pass it on.) That night’s story was called Nigel and the Beast 😂 Quick version:
We were laughing. Then after dinner, the bickering started again. And I caught myself thinking: It didn’t count. That the joy and laughter at dinner didn’t “count” because I lost my cool after. But that’s not true. Joy and connection often live right in the middle of the mess. Sometimes it feels like if playfulness doesn’t fix the whole day, it didn’t “work.” It counts. Your invitation this week: If today’s been rough, find one small pocket of play. Make up a silly story, play “Would You Rather,” or “Who Can Sound Like.” And then trust that it counts. (And if your brain’s tired and you need ideas ready to go, here’s a shameless plug for my apps! 💞) Cheering you on always, P.S. In case you missed it, I made a new Halloween freebie! It's like pumpkin spice-flavored sample of my app games, full of wholesome silly Halloweeny prompts for connection. 🎃 Just tap the link below to download it! MORE FROM PLAYFUL HEART PARENTING: Done-for-you fun. Simple, creative apps that take the brainwork out and put connection and laughter in. LITTLE MOMENTS FOR BIG LAUGHS: Quick and easy, random, silly moments to share with your kids. Private podcast program: playful strategies for navigating everyday parenting challenges and reducing power struggles. |
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.
When my sister and I were kids, we made up a ridiculous game where we’d give each other random prompts for facial expressions or poses. Our favorite way to play was cramming all our friends into the tiny half-bathroom (the only room without windows), turning off the lights, and waiting in the dark. 😂 One person would give a prompt, count to three, and everyone froze in their best interpretation. It was always something funny (and usually gross), like: “You just looked in the mirror and saw a...
My husband stumbled on the video of the first time my stepdaughter met my son, shortly after he was born. "Awww," I said as I watched her nervously skip into the room with a shy, excited grin and climb into the bed where I was holding her sleeping baby bro. But then something happened in the video that made my jaw drop. Something small but not actually small at all. Something I had no memory of... There was a little bar code sticker that had somehow gotten stuck to my arm from something. My...
I knew Saturday was also my only day to get some work done, uninterrupted, but I also knew that we needed at least a few minutes together as a family to just be together and laugh. My son, as always, had wild energy (it seems to be getting more and more wild as he approaches age 4… who can relate??) ...and I was proud of him for asking, “Can we play ‘Who can sound like?’” where I give him weird, silly prompts to channel his loudness. I shifted from that game to “You are…” so I could give him...