Playing

When you are dealing with a child, keep all your wits about you, and sit on the floor. 
~ Austin O'Malley, 1915

I picked up a book today at the library - Playful Parenting by Lawrence Cohen - and I came across this quote in one of its early chapters. The book talks about ways to use play to connect with, to repair your relationship with, and to learn about your child at varying ages. The quote above struck me because we are at that stage with Teddy - the it-is-now-time-to-get-on-the-floor-and-play stage.

And also the take-a-deep-breath-and-think-before-you-react stage. Toddlerhood is challenging, as I imagined it would be. But what I'm being reminded of, again and again, is that growing up is challenging. Even for toddlers (or perhaps especially for them?). To be so little, to control so little of your life, to need so much help; it can all be a bit frustrating. And Cohen's book is giving me a new way to think about coping with this stage (and future stages) - to use play to reverse power rolls, to use play to express feelings, to use play to just plain have fun.

My daughter's preschool teacher told me that preschoolers laugh an average of three hundred times a day. What would happen if we all did that?
~ Cohen, Playful Parenting