My daughter and I were having a conversation in which she said to me, “I think I always want to stay a kid because adults don’t play that much and I like playing!”
Her observation is pretty accurate-adults don’t play that much! We work, do house chores, and occasionally work out. Though, I’ve noticed that even when kids are doing more adult-like things including school work, house chores, or exercising, they still find a way to play while doing so! They jump in the pile of laundry before helping fold them, they run around their chair laughing before they answer the homework problem, and they climb random things and jump off of other random things to challenge their body instead of doing stationary squats.
Adults definitely have a knack for making things more serious than they could be if we added an element of fun to a task! If you’ve ever been in a pediatric physical therapy clinic versus an adult outpatient physical therapy clinic, you’ll see an example of how kids participate in life versus how adults do. In pediatric PT clinics, there are often ball pits and swings and light-up toys and climbing structures and balance bikes. In adult PT clinics, there are workout machines. Adults are no-frills and sometimes no fun! Most of the time, I believe is because we think a lot. We are constantly thinking about getting things done before we have fun rather than having fun while we get things done!
There are so many things to learn from our littles! Think through your daily routine and see if you can spice it up with a little laughter! Here are some ideas:
- Turn on fun music and dance your way through the dishes.
- Make it a game to see how fast you can finish the laundry
- Have your kiddo pick out 3 things for you to wear from the laundry pile while you are finishing it!
- Wrap yourself up in those warm, clean sheets before putting them on the bed and feel your body relax!
- See how many times you go through the alphabet while cleaning the bathtub out!
- Hop on one leg while picking up things off of your floor and see how long you last!
- Put extra bubbles in the sink when doing the dishes to make it a little fancier!
It may sound counter-intuitive to look for opportunities to play more and smile more in your day, but if you don’t, they will certainly pass you by!