OK... That news I talked about yesterday... you know, the "good" news in Monday's paper? It was an article called "Kids will be kids -- if you let them." If you missed it, click here.
According to the story, the Academy of Pediatrics says what children need for healthy development is just a boatload more of playtime. Instead of classes and enrichment activities, we just need to let them have spontaneous free play. Let them run and play and be silly. Better yet, run and play and be silly with them.
What a novel concept! (Note my sarcasm here.) We let kids play. We let them be free of worries and mind-bending activities. We let them ride bikes, play with dolls and develop their imaginations. Who ever heard of such a thing?
That's why we have recess during school hours and why kids have summers off of school. They need that free time to regenerate and just be a kid. They'll have a lifetime of meetings and appointments, worries and responsibilities. Why are we, as parents, so intent on forcing this upon them sooner? Why do we force this upon ourselves?
We all need to take more time to play. We need to set aside our worries and just do something that makes us happy for the sole reason that it makes us happy. It doesn't have to accomplish anything else. It doesn't have to mean anything. Let's all make a goal for this next week that we not only allow our children to play like, well, children, but that we play, too.