E10: TIME TO PLAY! Not Your Kid—YOU!

Today is all about reminding us adults that we too can play in our lives. And to be frank, we should probably ALL be doing more of it. 

We often think of play as something reserved for children—something separate from the laundry, the dishes, the school drop-offs, the endless to-do lists. But what if play isn’t something we need to find time for... what if it’s something we can weave into what we’re already doing? Play doesn’t have to be elaborate or scheduled. When we bring a playful spirit to the mundane, we’re not only reconnecting with our kids—we’re reconnecting with ourselves. We remember that joy is not something we have to earn after the work is done—it’s something we can access in the middle of it all. And when our children see us choosing joy in the ordinary, they learn that life isn’t just about tasks, it’s about how we move through them. 

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Today’s Prompts:

1. How can I turn this task into a game?
2. What if this moment didn’t have to be productive… but playful? Would you do anything differently?
3. What would this look like if I (or we) were both laughing through it? 
4. If my inner child were in charge right now, what would they do?
5. What’s the most ridiculous way I (or we) could do this, and still get it done?

*For privacy and protection, all children mentioned in this episode are referred to using fictional names or general references. I deeply honor the confidentiality of every child and family I work with.

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to In a Spiritual Sins Kids, a podcast for parents, teachers, and caregivers seeking to support their children's emotional and energetic development. On the show, we'll blend insights from neuroscience, child psychology, and emotional awareness as we explore natural ways to help kids understand their own energy, stay grounded, and enhance creativity and imagination. Don't forget to check out our sister channel in the Spiritual Sense, where we dive a little deeper into the metaphysical, working to build your intuition, connect with spirit guides, the paranormal, energetic healing, and more. Join me, Stacy Piagno, where we work to bridge the gap between science and spirit. Hello, welcome back to Intespiritual Sins Kids. I'm your host, Stacy Piagno. I hope you and your little ones are all having a fantastic week. All smiles and rainbows. If not, I would simply prompt, how can we take a stormy week and turn it around into something better? If you have had a rough start to your week, is there a way you can go back and choose different memories that, by the mere thought of them, would instantly reshape your current state? Is there a way you can better choose the positive experiences from your disharmony? And like we've spoken, transmute the negative into humor. Remember to ground into that disharmony and stay centered as it passes, then make moves. I'm still reminding myself of this every day. Going back on reflecting on that, however, I find can be helpful. So whether you've had some stormy weather or sunshine, choosing our perspective is what we are getting into today. Now, I'm gonna ask you all a question, and I want you to be honest. When is the last time you played without your child? When is the last time you played and had fun and used your imagination to create something or change the situation of something? When was the last time you enjoyed doing something? Bring the play to the mundane. We talked about this in the being present episode in regards to meditating. If you don't have time to play, then bring the play to the present. Tap into what that mindset would feel like. To play within everything you do. How enjoyable would that be? You know, the experiences we go through, they cause us to produce emotions. Okay, this is a given, but follow me. When we have an experience, we have an emotion that is attached to that experience. And those emotions stem into our surrounding energy, our aura. And the quality of that surrounding energy is again interconnected back to producing more emotions. And so my point is that our emotions create the aura around us, and the aura around us then affects our emotions again. It's a continuous cycle that feeds itself. And if we are aware of this, we can control it. Wouldn't it be great if we could purposefully see all experiences as something fun? So our emotions would follow and our aura would constantly be fueling us with positive energy? Our brains would constantly trigger those feel-good chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins into our system. Well, we can, and we should be doing it a lot more often. But is it really that easy to find the fun in everything? My opinion is yes, it is. But it takes practice to become automatic. And it starts with awareness. In the beginning, it's a lot about noticing how you feel and choosing how you want to see something. Choosing what kind of energy you want to be a part of and produce. Training our perspective to work for us is what I want to bring up today. And maybe you already do this, but if you're like me, having a reminder of this from time to time is always helpful. Is there a way we can see what we deem to be mundane as play and actually buy into it? How can we bring more enjoyment to all that we have to do and turn it into something we want to do? This is the shift that will bring magic into our lives, especially as busy parents or teachers. I mean, the reason we became parents and teachers is because we wanted to raise and teach and have a relationship with children. It's, in my opinion, one of the most magical experiences we can have. But it comes with a lot of upkeep, a lot of prep. And if we're not in charge of how we're moving through our prep, it can seem like work, work that we don't want to do unless we see it as something we do want to do and move through it as perhaps our children would. And you've heard me say before, kids are so good at playing, even when we want them to be serious. And this is one thing we can learn from them. It goes hand in hand with being present with what you are doing, not rushing to finish something, but instead being with what you are doing and doing it to the fullest, admiring your clothes as you're folding the laundry and connecting with the memories of each piece, noticing the flavors of all your food and feeling into the fuel it's giving you, noticing all the colors of the outdoors around you, whether you're in the middle of chaos or silence. This is the goal where we realize we truly are present with life. When we're folding the laundry, cleaning the house, can we not dance and sing and play music? You know, we did talk about making that time for ourselves, and I still stand by that. But is there a way we can enjoy our so-called tasks or jobs and therefore feel more fullified while we're doing all we need to do? Sometimes also we can bring our kids into the mundane with us and use them as inspiration to bring out the play within a situation. You know, I don't know why we as adults forget to play ourselves. One point for today is for us to reignite the play within ourselves. Let's do it all and have our kids help us with all we need to do and play with them as we do it. And as a result, we're getting done what needs to be done. We're spending quality time with them, and we're enjoying our time while doing it. I mean, when we cook dinner, can we not turn it into a cooking show and pretend like we're on TV with our children goofing around? I mean, we're getting dinner cooked, and at the same time, we're inspiring our children to want to cook and to be a part of the process. Do you ever give your kids a task while you're cooking? Have them help you find all the ingredients and check them off or make a list for you. Make a dance every time you chop something up. Bring silly energy into everything you do. Honestly, whether your kids are there or not. When you're getting the kids ready for school, have you ever raced them to see who could get ready first? Have you ever let them style your hair one day? Or wear one silly item to breakfast? Make up songs together. We sing transition songs in class, like when we line up or clean up. Do you ever do that at home? I like songs for transitions because everybody is actively singing and moving while getting ready. And there's a time limit. We have to be where we need to be by the time the song is over. When it's time to clean the house, can we give our chores funny names? Operation Toy Rescue. We have to save all the toys before the volcano erupts all over the floor. Or maybe you want to take the kids on the Dust Bunny Safari. Or can we make hats with stickers and call ourselves the tidy team? You know, this can be a time for us to use our imagination also. And to genuinely enjoy it. Play is not just for kids. It should be for all of us. Let's blow bubbles when we do dishes, make badges, give missions, hide treasure throughout the house so we can find it while we clean. The more fun you're having, the more fun they will have. And vice versa. When we bring a playful spirit to the mundane, we're not only reconnecting with our kids, we're reconnecting with ourselves. We remember that joy is not just something we have to earn after the work is done. It's something we can access in the middle of it all. And when our children see us choosing joy and the ordinary, they learn that life isn't just about tasks. It's about how we move through them. I could probably talk all day about this, but the reality is you have to go out there and practice it. You have to inspire your creativity. I feel like all I need to do is bring this into your awareness. You can do the rest. So, although this is a short episode, I know you get it. Let your inner child shine and lead the way. Reconnect with your joy. And I'll leave you with this. The next time you are doing chores or work or something that you usually don't enjoy doing, try asking yourself these questions. And I'll type them into today's episode description so you can refer back to them easily. Try asking yourself, how can I turn this task into a game? What if this moment didn't have to be productive but playful? Would you do anything differently? What would this look like if I or we were both laughing through it? Whatever the task is. If my inner child were in charge right now, what would they do? And lastly, what's the most ridiculous way I or we could do this and still get it done? Try thinking about this the next time you're in work mode or the next time you're struggling to fit everything in. I know for me, I can very easily fall into productivity and lose my playfulness. That inner child we all have inside. But when we really think about the purpose of life, it's to enjoy our time, right? I mean, for me at least, the reason why I'm so hard on myself and perhaps my family is because I want us to all have a good life. I want us to all be successful and happy. But life is happening right now, right in front of us, each and every second. So really, I don't need to work so hard to make my future better or my kids' future better. I need to work harder to make this current moment better. Right now. Right here. Whatever you're doing, whatever you're feeling, this is the time to play. This is the time to shift into enjoyment right now. If you enjoyed today's episode, I hope you use it to inspire those around you. And I'll see you next week on In a Spiritual Sins Kids. For those looking to connect further, please feel free to send emails to info at InaspiritualsSins.com or hit me up on Instagram where you can find weekly inspiration and updates. I look forward to connecting with you. This show is part of the Mindful Podcast Network.