Playing Give and Take
Yesterday the boys and I walked to the park - not an entirely out of the ordinary thing for us. They organized themselves into a make-shift game where one would climb the ladder while the other climbed the slide, then the ladder-climber would slide down the slide attempting to bring the slide-climber down with him. While I watched them play I couldn't stop smiling - and then thinking - of course. We all hear about how good play is for kids - how it's necessary, helps with socialization, mental health, physical literacy - it's essential. But I often think about how good it is for me too. There is little better for my mood than a walk. It brightens my mood, calms me down, eases my mind. It helps me to be a better mom, a better wife, a better human in general. It's where I collect my thoughts and make sense of things. It's also the byproduct of taking my kids out to play. The more I thought about this the more it made so much sense. When we give our kids room to p