Parenting During Lockdown: Take Time to Play!
By Peggy Gomula, PCI Certified Parent Coach
“Play helps build a warm relationship between family members and it creates a bank of positive feelings and experiences that can be drawn upon in times of conflict. Through play, you can help your children solve problems, test out ideas, and explore their imaginations.”
Hello!
Life used to be busy. We were commuting to work, getting kids ready and sending them off to school, overseeing homework, making lunches, and managing a lot of after-school activities. Life was constantly moving, and we thought that was ‘just the way things are’. It all seemed so normal.
Now, a lot of things have changed. We are not out there running around, we are not commuting to work, we are not rushing our kids out the door to school, and there are no after-school activities. Instead, we are being asked to stop going out entirely, to keep ourselves and everyone else safe. This is the ‘new normal’.
Perhaps there are some gifts in this ‘new normal’. Being forced to slow down may have given us a way to see that life can be different.
Many of us are trying to juggle working at home, teaching our children, and keeping a household running without leaving the house. There are a lot of things at home that can still keep us busy, but our ‘new normal’ means that we have our weekends pretty free. No games to get to, no shopping to do, no errands to run. We are all just home. Let’s try to take advantage of this time to strengthen our family relationships and have some fun.
Today’s quote is about taking time out to play. It reminds us that we need the fun and playful times to help us build up our ‘bank account’ so we have something to draw upon when the chaos takes over. And though we are ‘sheltering in place’, there is still a lot of chaos. When ‘sheltering in place’ is over, there will be even more chaos. This is a great time to build up the ‘bank account’ for when the chaos increases.
Let’s use some of the weekend time to get out there and play. Play can be just about anything fun that you do with your children. Maybe you have a board game night at your house. Maybe you have a dance party. Maybe you build Lego towers. Maybe you just act silly and make everyone laugh. Play is having fun, and in having fun you are teaching your children many lessons. Possibly the most important lesson they learn is that you love them enough to take the time to play with them.
Let’s take advantage of staying home and allow ourselves some time to play. Everyone will thoroughly enjoy it. You will be building and strengthening your relationship with your children, adding to your ‘bank account’, and the memories you make will be priceless. Oh, and you just might find yourself enjoying being sheltered!
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