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.
My therapist told me to do this and she was RIGHT!
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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 in more "learning" rather than consuming things just for fun. (example: listening to podcasts on how to run a business! 🤪) I'm all about prioritizing joy, so that sounds so opposite to everything I stand for, right?! So my brilliant therapist suggested listening to Amy Poehler's podcast Good Hang and let me tell you: BEST ADVICE EVER. I now binge-listen any chance I get: in the shower, folding laundry, in the car, on a walk... It's just so joyful. And who doesn't love Amy Poehler? She embodies all the things I love about life and I laugh out loud every single episode at least once (many times with the Jack Black, Rachel Dratch, and Jonathan Groff episodes) And one really cool thing: by making space for joy and fun by prioritizing this podcast, I am actually having lightbulb moments that feel very "productive." For example, I was listening to Amy talk with Katherine Hahn the other day and I actually paused the show to write down a direct quote from Amy:
"Fun dumb things to me are a love language. It proves safety. If you’re relaxed enough to do fun dumb things then you’re in the right place."
I MEAN!! 👏 It's my exactly philosophy when it comes to playfulness! And to hear Amy put it into those words felt so validating. This fun, silly stuff is not trivial. We need it, not just for our relationships with our kids but in our relationships with adult friendships and coworkers. Just in life! I know I'm preaching that all the time, so I wanted to share it today with you to say, hey, don't just take my word for it -- Amy's backing me up on this! 💞 My invitation for you this week: Honestly just check out Amy's podcast. It's so good. Or really just anything that isn't for the sake of being "productive" - something that makes you laugh or is just for the sake of joy. It never feels like we have time for it, but there is always a way to make time, and it is always worth it. Cheering you on always, Mia P.S. Speaking of Amy Poehler, improv QUEEN, my FAMPROV resource comes out this Thursday, March 19th! That means there are a couple more days to pre-order it at the earlybird price. I have loved working on this, rediscovering favorite games that have brought so much laughter to my family, and I'm so excited for more parents to have access to this digital library of fun family improv games for connection. TAP HERE for more info. MORE FROM PLAYFUL HEART PARENTING: PRE-ORDER FAMPROV: Family improv games for connection! A digital library with demonstration videos plus printable guide of fun improv games to bring you closer together through laughter and creativity. Simple, creative apps + printable card decks with 1400+ prompts that take the brainwork out and put connection and laughter in! 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.
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...
My sis came to town this past weekend and, yep, per usual I peed myself from laughter. Listen, this is actually not a common thing for me, so please don’t worry about my pelvic floor. It’s just my SISTER makes me laugh so hard I literally lose control of my bodily functions. The night before she left, we decided to go live on Instagram (something I never do) and take requests for inspiration to do games where we make something up by trading off every other word. We did: GPS directions to the...