Monday, July 6, 2015

I don't really like playing make-believe.

The problem with not liking to play make-believe is that I am a mother. I have 5 kids. Kids play make-believe....forever. 
It is a fair assumption that if I don't like that then I don't like playing with my kids and that is pretty accurate. 
I do, however, love spending time with my kids and that is a whole other thing and for that I am so thankful. 

Today ava asked me to play My Little Ponies with her. Her father and I made eye contact and he responded with "she would LOVE to play with you"
 I gave him the wonky eye that said everything to -no I don't, what are you doing, she did ask so sweetly, you play with her you goober, I can't I have the kitchen to clean, and how long will this take - 
I love coloring with my kids. It is simple and artistic. I am artistic so that works well.  I love painting and doing crafts. I love exploring and walking and being outside with them. But I do not like playing toys with them. I know I am not alone in this dislike. I have at least one person on my side and it's my twin. Neither one of us love sitting down and playing Barbies's, ponies, house, or anything along that valley. 
There is something so strong that pulls the other way when it comes to options of play time or anything else. I always want the everything else. 
This is ava being serious about her play time 

I played ponies with her and I was reminded of how it only takes a small moment out of my time to fill their little hearts full of love. Most of us our aware that humans have emotional love tanks. We fill those up different ways. If you don't know how your child or loved one needs to be loved then just look at what they do for you. Do they hug you often, do they encourage you or compliment you, do they make gifts for you, or just ask you to cuddle with them?
Ava always ask me to cuddle with her and I will stop everything to do that and today she asked to play ponies. 

We fixed hair and talked amongst our ponies. About 5 mins into playing I broke one of the tails off. 

I said  "please tell me that was already broken"
It wasn't. 
Could I have done without the play time? 
Yes, of course. I am ok never playing ponies again. But, seeing how happy she was that I played with her, for less then 20 mins, was well worth it. 

I believe so many times we are like that with our relationship with God. We are so busy and don't have time to spend with him. We have dishes, laundry, bills, a party, kids events, or sleeping that steal our time. Yet, all God is asking for is a few moments of our day. 
For ava it benefits her little soul to have her mommy love on her. She told daddy, when he came to watch us, that "mommy is playing with me because she loves me" This is a never changing fact. 
For God it also benefits OUR souls to spend time with Him. We get peace, confidence, grace, and freedom. This also is a never changing fact. 

After we cleaned up the toys we were able to continue our time together doing what I do truly love and that was reading and praying. 

Tomorrow take a couple of extra minutes and play with your little ones. It always amazingly me over the years when I make an effort to play and I mentally set aside (what feels like it will be 4 hours) time to play with them, they are so much better for it. 





 




No comments:

Post a Comment