Keeping Parenting Simple- Have FUN!

Keeping Parenting Simple- Have FUN!

A mother who joined one our parent chats reported that when she asked her 7 year old son if she needed any parenting advice, he said, "Well duh, we need to have more play time."
  
Have more play time. Sounds pretty simple. But as we grow up and are strongly encouraged to "get serious" about life we lose the PLAY and the importance of making all that we do fun.

The mother above is the parent to a child who lives for play, fun, creativity and socializing. She wanted to explore new ways to help her son become more cooperative in getting his chores done. What if it begins with the parent? What would happen if  kids could see parents doing the most mundane chore and having fun while doing it? Would the kids see that chores don't need to be mundane and boring? For some kids this is their nature and being true to their nature while they are children will allow them to grow up and be the creative, fun beings that contribute to the world.

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This may be a challenge for parents who have not allowed themselves to have fun or to play or it may not be their dominant nature. For those parents, I suggest asking yourself some questions to discover your true nature. If you could play and have fun, would you? Notice how comfortable you feel with that question. Do you ever have the urge to just jump, skip, laugh just to laugh, run, and be carefree?  If you are pulled towards that, whether you would allow yourself the luxury of it or not, then you most likely have the nature of fun within you. Is your child the excuse you can use to step into the playground of life? 

I have a number of clients who come to me and tell me that they want to enjoy life, but just can't allow themselves to have fun. Hmmm... I wonder if they were made wrong for having fun and playing as a child? So often once a child enters school, life becomes very serious and time for play decreases. This stifles the true nature of some children and then they grow up and as adults can't feel comfortable having fun. They have bought into a belief that having fun isn't for adults and they feel awkward, but yet they have a knowing that having fun is what they would like to do. 

If you didn't pull towards that and you are more of the intellectual type, no worries, you don't have to over do it in the fun and play area. However, to honor your child's desire to have fun, you will need to be in allowance of his need for play. There can still be a level of fun that you share with your child. It may be necessary that he have playmates that he can get in his play time with as well. 

Parent Challenge: Look at the tasks that you have in front of you right now, what would it take to make it fun to do any of those tasks? Take on a character? I know a woman who makes cleaning her house fun by dressing up in a sexy maid outfit. Another man who while he cleans the garage puts on his favorite rock-n-roll band.  What would work for you? Have fun trying new things. Ask your kids for ideas too!  Share what works for you in the comments below.  ​