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.
This gave me hope
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I was working upstairs the other day when I got a text from my husband, who was downstairs with the kids. It said, “He did this all on his own. Keeps saying, ‘Hope no one eats this when I’m not looking!’” and included a short video. In the video, my son was holding my daughter’s toddler fork with a bite of butternut squash. She was in her highchair, gazing at him. He brings the fork toward her mouth, then looks away, humming casually, as if to say, Nothing to see here! She smiles mischievously and leans in to steal the bite. He turns back, wide-eyed, pretending to be shocked, saying “Huh!?” as she mischievously cackles. This wasn’t something he invented out of nowhere. It’s the very game we’ve played with him since he was a baby: A simple, silly, power-reversal moment where the smaller human gets to feel in charge and the bigger one plays the fool. If a four-year-old can already use play this way to connect, to repair, to bring joy to someone younger and less powerful, it gives me so much hope. Hope that with people like you in the world, homes will start to feel lighter. Hope that children will carry that playfulness into moments of tension, conflict, and repair out into the world. And hope that, one family at a time, we can return to play and build a future that feels a little lighter, warmer, and more connected. My invitation for you this week: Simply take a moment to celebrate yourself for being the kind of parent that actually just read an email about the importance of playfulness in families. That is no small thing, especially with how many emails we all get, you feel me?!! You're crushing it. Cheering you on always, Mia P.S. In case you missed it, here's my new Valentine's freebie! Just tap the link below to download and print!(If you grabbed last year’s Valentine’s resource, this is a new one that has a few of the same games!) MORE FROM PLAYFUL HEART PARENTING: PRE-ORDER FAMPROV: Family improv games for connection! A digital library with demonstration videos, explanations of over 70 improv games to bring you closer together through laughter, 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.
My favorite part of the day yesterday was oinking like a pig with my son for five minutes. Hear me out, because it wasn't your typical "let's just act like animals" kind of play... I know that can feel unbearable for parents! It was because he ran and jumped on me before bed and did a little snort-laugh so I said, "Aww is this my little piglet?" He said yeah! Let's snort! I couldn't snort because I've already had a stuffy nose, but I could oink! So of the cuff I said, "Let's oink messages to...
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...