Don’t Play With Your Kids. Seriously.
Biases up front:
-The author doesn’t sound like the kind of person I would spend much time around.
-I love play and put it at the center of my learning universe.
I guess the latter explains the former. Notice I said MY learning universe. I don’t dictate how my children learn best and I think that is the part of the article that I agree with: let the children play. This mother’s success came from listening to the needs of her children and setting boundaries.
That is a very difficult balance. Play can happen in many ways, but parents have to recognize their own needs and protect them.
I believe play is essential to growth and learning in all stages of life. I set boundaries while modeling my own play through soccer, writing, jiu-jitsu, or any of my varied interests. I don’t play games that I don’t want to and that models consent (I don’t just model consent, we often discuss it).
I strongly believe we all need more things in our lives that we call “play.” Maybe this author most of all. Does that mean you have to play WITH someone else? Of course not, but a life of little play doesn’t feel like a successful one to me.