{re}building home with play

As the years have ticked by, I have played with my kids less and less.

When they were all little, they couldn’t play alone and so I was with them. Rolling balls back and forth, doing puzzles, pushing swings, watching cartwheels and making sandcastles.  I can remember regularly putting the then baby (was it Zach?) in the backpack and pitching baseballs to Ben and Nick in the front yard.

But as they grew, I began sending them outside to play. That was my time to get things done in the house. Or get on the computer.  And think my own thoughts.

If I want to build memories for my kids and live in those memories myself, I need to put my work aside at times and play with my kids. In this 31 Days of {re}building family, I’m trying to dig in and put down family life that will mean something in 10 or 20 or 30 years. I’m trying to move forward into the good.

Here are 8 reasons why this went to the top of my list today:

1. Playing with my kids is time spent in their world. 

I get to see the world through their eyes. What do they notice? Where do they explore? What exciting and amazing discovery are they making?

2. Play with my kids means they see me smile a lot more.

They need to see that. I need to feel it.

3. Playing with my kids speaks the love language of quality time.

You’ve probably heard this said many times: how do you spell love? T-I-M-E.

4. Playing with my kids teaches me about their bents, their aptitudes and their weaknesses.

Half of parenting is to be a student of your own child. Watching how my kids play, what they play, how they win and lose and how they react is so valuable in knowing them.

5. Playing with my kids lets me say YES instead of no.

Or Dare You! Or We Won!

6. Playing with my kids stores up healthy, fun experiences that balance times of correction and discipline.

Play, along with other things we do to show our love (like their laundry, bringing them the forgotten football pads and cutting their sandwich into eighths) helps our kids know that our parenting — including discipline — is born out of a love relationship.

7. Playing with my kids lets me push pause on the rush of life.

Times spent playing with our children are part of the finite days that seem long, but race by. The work will always be there but our children’s play won’t.

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