It is hard to be a Fun Parent. It was only yesterday when my son was cajoling me to get out with him and play. He wanted to go to the park.
And I, well, wanted to get hundreds of those things done! Seems the battle has become never ending. Every morning, we rush with our busy day schedule.
6:30 – Get Up
7:00 – Wake up Kids
7:30 – Dress up for School
8:00 – School drop-off
8:20 – Get Ready
9:00 – Fix the breakfast and Lunch
9:30 – Office
1:20 – Pick up from School and so on…
Over the course of time, we start functioning like machines. Doing tasks but rarely enjoying them. And what our kids learn from it? Life is all about work
I don’t want my child to grow up thinking life is just all about work. Life is work and much more. But when parents are constantly working and don’t have a moment to spare for ‘simple, goofy, harmless fun’, children cannot be blamed.
They learn what they see. Trying to balance everything from a clean house to perfect dinners and work has definitely turned parents into droids. All this perfection comes at a price. And guess who pays that price?
Our Children.
When it comes to children, their complete contentment confines in their parents. Life is so perfect for them, when they find their playful, fun parents around them. Twinkle in their eye is a huge demonstration of their happiness.
The context is, why do we have to make our kids jostle around for their need of a perfect life when they have so limited, simple and handful of demands?
With our best interest to provide for everything, we forget to attune to our children’s hearts. We rob them of the childhood they deserve. A childhood, where parents are part of the fun and endless silly things that childhood is made of.
We are so busy with our lives and devices that we have become unconscious of our duties towards our children. Much like we owe them to provide the best we can, we also owe them our time.
Children don’t grow up to remember how many classes they attended or how many toys they had. They reminisce how their parents played with them, how they made sandcastles together and how they laughed over the silliest things ever.
It is just our undivided attention, love and care that our children are desperate for. These are the memories children deserve.
I want to be part of these memories! It would be really sad if I let this time pass and miss these opportunities while my child is still asking me to play with him.
Soon, he will grow up and will not need me to play with him. He will have his friends and his own world. I don’t want to complain then. The time is right now!
How to Be a More Playful, Fun Parent
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Grab an ice-cream cone together and enjoy it like a child
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Play hide and seek with his/her friends
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Go for bowling
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Make Popcorn and watch a STEM movie together
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Go for a run with your child
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Play pin the tail
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Tickle all those sweet spots
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Schedule game nights
Check out Best Toys for Kids for Every Age to make game nights memorable! -
Play paintball with water guns
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Do cartwheels together
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Enjoy the night sky and look for constellations
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Crack silly jokes or ask fun riddles
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Let your child paint your nails
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Make goofy, funny faces together
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Solve a jigsaw puzzle with your child
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Challenge your child to win at Dobble
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Paint pictures and draw on sidewalk
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Jump on the trampoline (or bed) with your child
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Challenge them to a game of tag
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Go for a swim
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Dance on your favorite music
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Ride a bike together
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Do beat boxing and make silly sounds
- Challenge them to a POM POM shooter game
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Make lemonade
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Engage in some roughhousing
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Go for a horse ride
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Take a stroll
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Play dress-up
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Have a blast in shower
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Karaoke with their friends
These things, though really simple, have the power to foster a great one to one bond. This parent-child bond goes a long way in building parent-child communication.
Such children easily confide in their parents and find it almost natural to discuss everything under the sun, with their parents. They are more honest, trustworthy and respectful.
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