Let's have some fun!

This is a busy season for a lot of us parents… but to be honest, it seems like every season can feel busy.  Perhaps your family is juggling a variety of school or club sports, there are conferences to attend, volunteer commitments, dance recitals, summer activities to plan and of course your own job and house work. 
I’ve been talking with a number of parents recently who are reflecting on how “demanding” their child feels; demanding the parents' time and attention. “Can we go somewhere?” “Can you play with me?” “Can we do something fun?”  These parents are feeling pulled in a million directions: “there is so much I have to do, why can’t my child just go play?”  Maybe you can relate, I know I can.

Here are some thoughts:
*Your child is wired to desire your time and attention. It’s like the moon’s pull on the tide.
*Any attention is better than no attention to your child, which means negative attention will do if needed.
*Giving our kids positive attention and our time is good for us too.💓 

How much of your week do you run around “doing all the things” for the good of your family? A lot right?!
Carving out some time for connection and fun will build your relationship with your child, and can fit into any family’s schedule. 
Here are a few things you can do to fill your child’s love and attention cup, and have fun together. 

1. Play a game of “clean out the back yard”. Played inside with a collection of small soft objects like balloons, sock balls or cotton balls, you put half the objects on one side of the living room and half on the other side.  Then you and your child/ren each try to “clean up your own backyard” by throwing the balloons into the other person’s “yard”. Set a timer for 2 minutes and have some fun together. If you have more than one child, they might love to work together. 
2. Shared drawing. You and your child both start with a blank paper and draw whatever comes to your mind.  No fancy art skills needed, just go for it. Then after a few minutes, switch papers and add on to each other's drawings.  Switch back and forth a few times and see what you come up with together. 
3. Mummy wrap: Good cheap fun, this game just needs a roll of toilet paper. Invite your child to choose to be the mummy or the wrapper. If your child is the mummy, you have them stand still while you wrap toilet paper around and around them. Then, when you count to three they get to break free! (Wondering what to do with that used roll? The paper could be a good fire starter, and there are tons of crafts online for empty toilet paper rolls. You could find your next fun thing to do together.)

I’m sure you and your family have some great ideas for fun things that you do together.  I would love to hear them!  Share your thoughts with me by responding here or sending me an email to:

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