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.
The video (of myself) that made my jaw drop
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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 stepdaughter pointed at it and giggled and Steve said, “You look like a robot.” I went into robot mode and she giggled and said, “You turn on when I press this!” about the sticker. She pressed it and I said in a mechanical voice, “Doo-doo-doo! Hello! Would you like to meet your baby brother?” She giggled and got closer. “Whoa.” I said to Steve. "I… was playful then?? I have no memory of doing stuff like that in that season." “Yeah,” said Steve. You’ve always done stuff like this. You just do it way more now.” I felt so confused! When I looked back on that season all I can really remember is a lot of postpartum anxiety and feeling like I was too strict/firm with my stepdaughter. But this little moment proved that it was there all along. It just wasn’t until I started consciously prioritizing it throughout the day that I began to really understand the power of a more playful approach in parenting. I watched the video again and felt like crying. Because I realized in sharing my story on Playful Heart Parenting, I’ve condensed it down to this before-and-after-type thing. It goes something like this: "I used to be playful, then I became a parent and I wasn’t playful at all anymore, and then I found my way back." But the truth is, life just isn’t black and white like that. Life isn't linear. Stories don't always fit into neat little boxes. This video was proof that this part of me was in there all along, not out of reach. Just a little harder to get to when things felt challenging and stressful. My invitation for you this week: If you have been feeling like you aren’t doing or being “enough” … pause for a moment. Now think about alllll the little tiny moments throughout the days that you are doing beautiful, kind, meaningful, powerful things in small, unnoticeable ways. You don’t even realize you’re doing them. You’re doing so much more and so much better than you think. Cheering you on always, Mia 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. Strategies for navigating everyday parenting challenges and reducing power struggles through play. |
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...
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...
Yesterday I did something I haven’t done in four years. I went into the studio to record harmonies on an album. This was for a producer I used to work with a lot… …until I gave birth to my son. Last time I was in there I was super pregnant. It was like time traveling, because it had felt like such a long time and also not a long time at all. This was a big deal for me because it was like getting a big part of myself back that I had been missing! 🥺 Singing harmonies is good for my soul and...