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.
Sneak peek at my 39yo birthday resolutions
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I turned 39 yesterday. …and what I’d like to leave behind! TAKING WITH ME (Or prioritizing if I’ve let it slip lately) • Games at mealtimes (Plot Twist is still a hit with my son!) • Being my authentic, comfy, messy self online • Laughing more with my husband (not just with the kids) • Trying at least one silly little thing a day (lately I’ve been pulling from my own Little Moments collection) • Telling my kids how much I love hanging out with them (my son’s face lit up when I said it the other day 🥹😭) • One load of laundry a day, loaded the night before = sanity saver! • Speaking more gently to myself, especially about parenting (we can’t model compassion if we don’t give it to ourselves!!) • Staying mostly dairy-free 😱 (started last year for my daughter’s gut health… turns out it’s helped mine too!) • Letting my kids help more around the house (Hunt, Gather, Parent has reminded me they want to, if we let them, and I’ve already noticed a shift) LEAVING BEHIND • Treating everything like an emergency • Letting mean people online get to me • Being too hard on myself for mistakes • Believing I’m not worthy of help … and probably lots more, but this is getting long so I’ll see myself out 🫡 Your invitation this week: Birthdays and new years are great natural reset points… but we don’t actually need them to start fresh! Maybe reflect on one or two things you’d like to do more of or less of this week. If it helps to have accountability, hit reply and share. I love hearing from you! Cheering you on always, Mia 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.
My fam was in town this past weekend. My sweet son turned four(!!) and my mom, sis, and dad flew out to celebrate. We packed a lot in and while sometimes quick visits like this can feel stressful, this was a great weekend full of moments that helped everyone laugh and loosen up so I want to share them with you now! 1- Name That (Minion) Tune We sang songs like the minions from “despicable me” and it’s literally so fun for all ages (even grandpa played) - tip, just sing the syllables...
The other night, I caught myself thinking something that wasn’t true. It had been one of those tricky days. The older two were bickering. My son was being too rough with the baby (my biggest trigger). I lost my temper. 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...
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...