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.
Too grumpy to play (guilty)
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The other day we were alllll grumpy. My husband and I were just kind of missing each other communication-wise, nothing big or bad happened, and nothing was even really "wrong..." but we were just off. The kids' energy was off, too. Things just felt kind of tense. You might be thinking... "Yeah, yeah, I know where this email's goin. Mia used some kind of playfulness or silly game to save the day and bust them all out of the funk..." Noooope! I literally had the conversation in my own mind of whether or not to try to shift into play mode. And you know what? I couldn't. It just really didn't feel genuine to me. I was too irritable, for whatever reason, and we honestly just all needed to eat and let it all simmer down. A little food, a little time passing... it all worked itself out. THEN, as I was working on editing my new improv games resource (that I filmed a YEAR ago and cannot WAIT to share with the world!!!!)... ...my stepdaughter walked over and started watching the footage and laughing. Then she said, "Mia, can you stop editing so that we can play that game?" (referring to the one that was on the screen." 100% yes. It was her last night here before going back to her mom's house after a long holiday break, and it was the perfect way to close out our time together with some silly connection. But the thing is, I know if I had forced it in the moment when we ALL just didn't have the capacity for it, it wouldn't have gone over well for any of us. Or I don't know, maybe it would have. My point is that it's OKAY when we consciously do NOT choose play. It's just not reasonable to think we're gonna be goofin' around the clock. We are humans! (although when we DO have the capacity, it's obviously AMAZING for breaking tension... sometimes it's just a better option to recover from the tension with some humor instead of right in the heat of it, you know?) My invitation for you this week: Give yourself grace if you're feeling crabby because that's just real. We're allowed. Then, when you're feeling better later, try a silly game to reconnect. If you need an idea, you can always reference my free Play Break Bingo sheet: Play Break Bingo from Playful Heart Parenting.pdf Cheering you on always, Mia MORE FROM PLAYFUL HEART PARENTING: Simple, creative apps 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...