C’mon, Mom…Let Me Play!
By Julie Jenkins Sathe
Author of “ENLIGHTENED DISCIPLINE”
www.safekindandclean.com
To a child, adult approval means everything. Children who are worried about the routine occurrences that can happen during the course of a normal day may run into real problems. Let’s look at it from a child’s view.
I’m small, too short to reach many things that are offered to me, so I miss them, they fall. …spill and there is a mess.
My fingers don’t always hold onto things like a grown-up’s. My small hands don’t fit all the way around the cup that Grandma hands me….it spills. Or the plate that Daddy gives me to hold is much too heavy for me…I drop it.
My arms don’t always know what is behind me and I forget that I have to turn around and look. I knock things off…sometimes things break.
My legs are running so fast because I am so excited to go play. Maybe I will even get to be on that special swing! But, my legs went so fast that I slipped into the mud….now my clothes are all wet and yucky.
My mind didn’t realize that the pee was coming out RIGHT NOW! I wet my pants…again.
As parents, we need to remember to dress our children so that they are ready for play and LIFE as a kid. They will wash after preschool or their play date. Parents need to be gentle with their criticism and think of it from the child’s perspective.
Do dress your child in “play clothes”. Go to the Goodwill or any second hand store in your town and pay pennies for good, sturdy clothes that won’t bother YOU if they are stained.
Do make sure children can fasten and unfasten their clothing on their own. They can only be successful with the skills they currently have. Avoid buckles and snaps, trendy zippers and overalls.
Do make sure you provide a change of clothes for every day. Make life more comfortable mentally and physically for the child who has a mishap.
Most of all…curb your criticism. They have waited all day for you….maybe all week if you have shared custody. They want your hug, your kiss, your approval. Love them up!
