Play! A Huge Part of Self-Care

Ever step back and take a look at yourself?

I did that this weekend.

We had children over while their parents went on a date. After brunch Pete organized a backyard game of touch football. 

Every child was involved. Yet I was not invited to play.

I wanted to play. Yet I didn’t speak up.

I know that they would have loved to have me play too. Yet I didn’t ask.

Instead I did what I usually do: I cleaned up.
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The next day we were ready for a snack. The plan was that I would make it, and then we’d eat while playing a game of Uno together.

I asked the children to help with the clean up while I made the food.
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They did, and finished before I did.

What followed was some sort of a wrestling/tackle/get the ball game on the living room floor. 

Again, I found myself in the kitchen, getting things ready, not a part of the play.

After we finished our game and snack, we sat down to watch a movie that we’d begun the night before.

Everyone piled onto the couch.

There were a few dishes left to wash. I said to go ahead and begin, “I’d be right in.”

I finished the dishes, wiped the counters, and rinsed the washcloths. 

Yet why hadn’t I asked them to wait for me? We wait for each other. I know they would have waited, if I’d asked.

All too often self-care can feel foreign and uncomfortable – especially while remaining in the house.

I find it easier to rest and relax if I leave. 

Though I love our house, when someone is asking, needing, or fighting, it’s not restful.

When I see the pile on the counter, the budget to be done, and the laundry to be folded, it's not restful.

Yet play is a huge part of self-care. It is also an opportunity to connect with each other in a powerful way. 

I’m convinced that children’s love language is play. 

Nothing seems to bless them more than when you get in there and play with them.

Play also often involves laughter – a huge stress reliever.

At one time I knew better how to play. I need to learn it again – especially the imaginative, create your own type of play – the kind that is organic, like a pickup game of backyard touch football, or an impromptu game of Yahtzee before dinner.

I’ve discovered this lack of invitation to play is my own doing.

I haven’t entered in, so I’m no longer asked in. After hearing "no" enough, people get the hint and stop inviting. 

I regret not leaving the kitchen mess and simply saying, “Hey! Can I jump in?”

My family would’ve been surprised and delighted. I would have been too.

I’m learning to let go of the urgent to spend my time on the important. The dishes, the budget, the laundry, they can wait – even though they feel urgent.

My family, however, is of the greatest value, the most important. 

Spending play time with them is a great gift to them, and to myself. It’s a kind of self-care I all too often forget.

Would you learn from me and with me?

This week’s challenge: PLAY! Spend time on the important.​

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