Wanna Play Mom?

Wanna play? It’s a question my kids have been asking ever since they could string a few words together, and I’ve always encouraged them to play, but I haven’t always gotten involved myself. I have to admit, I’m usually the mom with her nose in a book at the park, and sometimes I even take my kids and my laptop to the playground so they can get some exercise while I get my work done.pink chai living wanna play canadian tire{My boy – pretty much born to play soccer!}

Recently though I’ve been thinking a lot more about my lack of physical activity, and my disconnect from playing with the kids. I spend a lot of time with them doing things like arts and crafts, watching movies, and even cooking – but almost everything we do is structured and organized, it’s never just free play. At our house Dad has always been the one in charge of play. Whether it’s heading to the swings after work with the kids to give mom a little break, or an impromptu Frisbee or wrestling match in the back yard, Dad is your guy. Well, I’ve decided it’s time for a change; this summer I wanna play too!

When I heard about Canadian Tire’s Wanna Play campaign (which is all about rallying Canadians to rediscover play), I started thinking about how much I used to love free unstructured play as a kid and how far away I’d gotten from it. Of course we all know that play is important for kids, but did you know it’s important for adults too? It helps us relax and unwind of course, but it also helps with productivity, innovation, and creativity at work. A new productivity hack that’s fun, I’m sold!pink chai living{Goofing around with dad!}

We all live such busy lives these days, and even our family fun times have to be scheduled in some cases (at our house we have “Friday Funday” in the summer, which is basically just code for mom & dad have to take a day off). The kids have soccer practice, swimming lessons, and pre-planned play dates, and I have client meetings, deadlines, and other work commitments – so where’s the time to play?

Honestly, I’m not exactly sure where I’m going to find the time either, but I’m committing to adding a little play time and unstructured and physical activity to my to-do list this summer. But there are no rules; I’m not making a time commitment, or pre-planning the activities, or starting a Pinterest board about play – we are just going to play as a family, and on our own. I read a definition of play as “purposeless, fun, and pleasurable” that’s what I’m going for.  

{A little one on one action with mom}

I started the summer of play by challenging the boy to a little one on one soccer, and even though it was a tiny bit of work because we decided to film the video above, we laughed more than we have in a long time, and ended up having a great conversation about the types of games I used to play as a kid. Another side benefit of play, it connects you with your kids and creates unexpected conversations. 

I’d love to hear how you add play to your days. Share a comment below with your tips to keep playing!

This post is part of a collaboration with Canadian Tire, and I received special perks for taking part. As always I only share products and campaigns that I believe in and feel with benefit my readers!

 

 

 

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