Category: Moments

I’ve noticed a strange, and rather disturbing trend lately when I go to play areas with my daughter. The disturbing thing is called parents.

I absolutely believe that parents should be watching their small kids to make sure that they don’t get hurt, but they are much too involved in directing their play.

Last weekend I was at a play area where there were several miniature houses with brooms. There were pretend sheep and rakes. It was a great place for kids to pretend to be grown ups. The entire area was designed for children. Now, if only the grown ups would leave them alone.

I saw a child pick up a broom and start sweeping outside the house to which his father replied, “Why don’t you sweep INSIDE the house?”

I saw a child climb on a tree stump that was about 6 inches tall and his mother wouldn’t move away from him. What was she afraid of? That he would fall 6 inches onto the mulch covered ground?

I watched kids happily playing with other kids and the parents would say, “Did you see the buckets? Why don’t you go play with the buckets?”

Why don’t we just let the kids play. Let them play in ways that make sense to us. Let them play in ways that are absolutely nonsensical. Let them do one activity for 20 minutes or let them jump from one thing to another.

Let them create, discover, invent and be kids.

Play is not just fun and games. It’s how kids learn about their world. They try things out and make mistakes. This is their school, with one major difference….there actually are no rules in play.

You don’t actually have to follow the instructions on a Lego set. You can build whatever you want to.

You don’t have to sweep inside the house…you don’t even have to use the broom as a broom.

The playground is where kids learn how to solve problems…on their own. They settle disagreements with other kids…on their own. They fall six inches off tree stumps and decide that it’s kind of fun to tumble around. They fall 12 inches and learn that falling hurts, so maybe they should be more careful.

We are all familiar with helicopter parents. I’m not sure if this is the same thing or not. This isn’t about just hovering, it’s about inserting yourself where you don’t need to be, or worse, where you shouldn’t be.

Let them be kids. Let them discover and fall and struggle and create and learn and laugh….and play.

Please, just let them play.

Photo by Fabian Centeno on Unsplash

“Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.” — Tennessee Williams

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I was giving my daughter a bath last night when I noticed something amazing.

She was playing with her submarine and doing absolutely nothing else. She wasn’t thinking about anything else or wanting to be doing anything else. She was present in that moment. Just her and her submarine.

Most of us have busy lives. The fact that you are even taking time out of your day to read this, gives me great joy!

Our minds of full of to-do lists and obligations that it can be an astronomical challenge to just be. Right. Where. You. Are.

Even as I write this, I am thinking….I hope my daughter doesn’t wake up soon, because I really feel like writing. She has none of those worries.

Wherever you are…be there. That is such a tiny, simple sentence…but it’s SO hard to do.

I watched my daughter laying in the tub focused on the submarine going under water, then flying in the air. She watched it get wet and she watched the water pour out of the bottom. Then she did something even more amazing. She said “did you hear that?”

I, of course, heard nothing.

“It’s a birdy!” Not only was she present in her moment, but she was aware of the smallest sounds in her environment.

It’s a lot like meditation, really. You notice your mind wandering, then you gently bring it back to focus. Today…even if just for one hour…try to be 100% present in whatever you are doing. It’s so much harder than it should be.

Photo by Thomas Despeyroux on Unsplash