Playing Hide and Seek

As you know, children are bundles of energy. As a parent, I think the most important thing we can do is to help them channel that energy into appropriate activities. Left on their own devises, they can get into trouble and even seriously hurt themselves.

One of the hardest things is letting your child experiment and explore in a safe way. Many parents don’t want to let their kids do things that will make a mess. The problem is, if the child obeys the rules, then they will miss their fun in playing things. By making mistake and by making messes, they learn a lot. The key is providing them a safe environment to do both.

You can tell the vast differences in kids personalities by the wide variety of activities they consider fun. Often boys love to punch and knead. When I make chapattis, my son used to come into the kitchen and disturb me. Finally I learned to give him water in a small cup and wheat flour. Now he could make dough! He loves it. He learned how to knead the dough in the perfect manner and he had a great time doing it. What a great mother-son activity. Knowing that he needs to release his restless energy, I taught him to channel it in positive, non-destructive ways. For example, if he is bored or frustrated, he will punch his punching bag or pillow instead of his sister. Sometimes, I will join in and do the same, when we are tired out, we laugh together.

One day while watching a music program on the TV, I heard loud noises coming from the kitchen. I was shocked to find my son with seven to eight glass of water and a spoon making the racket. I demanded to know what he is doing. He told me that he was performing a music concert. Even though I was a little angry about the water everywhere, I stopped myself from reprimanding him. Instead, I enjoyed his music program before we cleaned everything up together. That the biggest thing I’ve learned – to try to see things from my children’s point of view and support them in finding healthy fun and in their creativity – even when they are making a mess and taking me away from my own fun.

Dancing to the lively music is one of my favorite hobbies. My daughter loves music too! Whenever she has free time, we both play music in the CD and dance. One day while I was doing my aerobics exercise, my daughter came and said that she would teach me some exercises she had learned in school. I said “sure” , she demonstrated them all to me and we both got a great workout!! By doing it together, I reinforced the importance of regular exercise.

The second most important thing I have learned is to make everything I do with my kids fun. It can be fun to do chores together. You can laugh, be playful and tell jokes at the same time you are doing important work. From that perspective, I’ve lightened up immensely! I also enjoy my own life so much more.

So join in the fun when your kids are in the swimming pool. Play playing hide and seek with them from time to time. By making chores fun, you teach them the importance of doing hard work at the same time you are teaching them that everything can be fun. By engaging in games and activities with your children, you teach them that being active is important and that being imaginative is wonderful. My kids are my greatest gift from God. I’m so lucky to have kids with great manners and strong personal discipline.