"Play is a child's work"

This short quote by Jean Piaget says so much about children. Play is one of the most important things in a child's life, it's right up there with nourishment, shelter, and love. I wrote about the importance of play in this article telling about how crucial free play is for the well-being of children. I know from experience how hard it can be as a parent to sit back a relax and just let our kids be.

For so many reasons, family life is hectic in our society today. Just living with kids can be busy enough but then dealing with school, homework, play dates, and extracurricular activities on top of normal crazy life can be too much for kids that just want and need free play.

I was reading this article by Beth Berry on the pressure we are receiving as parents to enroll our kids in an array of activities and as nice as it is for them to try different sports, instruments, or art forms, this kind of busy schedule can easily get out of control and become overwhelming for many children. And let's not even get started on the additional monetary pressure for parents. In the article, Beth does the math with her four kids for one activity a season and the price is astounding.

My thoughts on this are that there must be a better way for parents and children to enjoy life and still feel fulfilled. Although Beth solved her problem by moving her family to Mexico where the culture and people are much more relaxed, and that might be pretty extreme for some, for us, focusing on slowing things down worked just fine.

When my first child was born almost 10 years ago my ability to get anywhere on time severely decreased. We'd go to activities and playdates usually a little late, and I noticed that many moms were packing up to leave by the time I even got there. So after maybe an hour or two of play, I couldn't help thinking that it didn't seem worth the effort to pack snacks, clothes, diapers, toys, and whatever else is necessary for a playdate if we were going to have to leave so quickly. It seemed that a lot of kids were just starting to feel comfortable enough to play by the time they were being made to leave.

As anyone with a young child knows how long it takes to get them to actually leave, you're left with what?
A stressful morning trying to get out the door, and maybe a half-hour of relaxed play before you have to start dropping hints that it's going to be time to go soon.

I made a decision that day, that I would only commit to open-ended playdates and activities so we could leave when my kids and I were ready. Luckily, I found some friends that were willing to give it a try or already felt the same way. At first, it was hard to break free from our social routine of go, go, go, but when we all felt the freedom and ease in our day, I couldn't imagine doing it any other way.

Almost ten years and three kids later I guess I'm doing pretty well at keeping my pace. While sitting with some friends at the park and brainstorming blog ideas, a friend suggested that I write about relaxed play dates. She commented on how I always seem prepared enough to stay for hours and don't seem in a rush to get anywhere while we're out.
I guess it took time and patience on my part and the impatience of my kids never wanting to be rushed around helped a lot too. The learning curve of bringing what we need to be ready for anything is what keeps us going today and the most important thing is realizing that your family needs to slow down.