Having fun with your kids sometimes means choosing to join them in their silly activities. The other day my girls emptied shredded paper all over the floor to play with it — so I joined them!
On Friday afternoon, I had Phoebe asleep in the swing while Esther and Magdalene were watching a program on TV. I thought it was the perfect time to shred a big pile of paperwork that needed to be disposed of securely.
The moment I put the shredder on, both girls stopped watching the TV and came over to ask me what I was doing. They thought it fascinating and loved watching the documents be shredded into paper strips through the viewing window. I had a few trips to the bin as I had a lot of shredded paper to recycle.
That’s When the Fun Got Started
Once I finished, I left the shredder bin full of paper to go and get a drink of water. Before I knew it, the bin was empty, and the floor was covered in shredded paper.
The girls began throwing the paper in the air and screaming with delight as they rolled around on the floor.
At that moment, I had a choice. I could have yelled at my girls for making such a colossal mess and told them to clean it up. Or I could have joined them and had some fun.
I chose the latter and got in amongst the paper. I was able to grab my phone to take some pictures of their joy to remind myself that messy play can be really fun.
The Choice We Have Each Day
We always have a choice. Sometimes — maybe most times — we should choose to join in. I’m glad I did.
When was the last time you joined your kids with their messy shenanigans?
Originally published at The Plumbette. Image by Allen Taylor at Unsplash.
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Unbeknown to my 4 sons at the time, I witnessed one of my sons accidently break a tablet of mine. His brothers all triggered and abused him for breaking it (their self-interest; less devices for them to play video games on). My immediate unconsidered reaction was to state “accidents happen” and backed this up with “no one is to blame”.
My reactions to my kids’ actions frequently confounded them because they were not what their mother was telling them about me, funny that.
When they asked me how to do something, I’d invariably replied “carefully” which gave me time to consider my response and work out how to engage them in finding a solution themselves [or with little advice /input from me as practical] so that by the time they had done it, they had a sense of achievement [and another lesson in problem solving including when and how to ask for help when needed].