The Ultimate Guide to Acting Like a Child

“To a young heart, everything is fun.”

Charles Dickens

So here is some truth for you (I feel like I offer truth to you often, and typically I am not painting myself in a positive light. What can you do?) – I don’t play the part of being ‘young at heart’ very well. I would bet that most people who know me would say that I am relatively serious (although I do like to make jokes once in a while), that I do my job and then go home, and those that know me well would tell you that I don’t “play” with my children often. I go for walks with them, I paint their nails, I will color all day long, but I really struggle to tap into the child within me.

I would say that I had to grow up pretty quickly. I was the oldest of the 2 kids living at home – my sister and I lived with a single mom, who busted her butt to do all she could for us, but struggled immensely. We lived in more one bedroom apartments, sharing a bed between the three of us, then I can even count. I had very little to do with my father and when I did see him, it was always an incredibly stressful time – he had a horrendous temper and he drank, which, exacerbated his horrendous temper. I do have to admit that I never felt like life was hard, I just kind of rolled with it. But looking back, I wonder if it is because of some of my life experiences that I don’t laugh as easily or find humor in a large amount of situations.

Feeling like I don’t act like a child well, really only bothers me when I think about my own children. My husband is great at acting childish – I mean this seriously. He wrestles with our girls, throws balls with them, builds snow forts, and even plays baby dolls with our 4-year-old. When they are looking for a playmate, they always turn to him. There is a part of me who is more than okay letting that happen, but I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that it also makes me a little sad. That’s because I want to be more child-like.

It is something that I am working on.

Crafting this blog post made me think that, I must not be alone in feeling this way. There must be many of you out there (especially moms) that feel like I do – lacking in the ‘young at heart’ mentality. I know there are many moms that are better at being light-hearted and “child-like” than I am, but I bet a vast majority feel like they could do this better. Because being a mom means you have 185 balls in the air, and you are trying to keep them from falling; and adding one more thing sounds and feels nearly impossible. And the shear act of having to juggle all of those balls means that you are a little quicker to jump, or a little less likely to take a moment to get down on the floor with your kids and roll around.

Which means, that we can all work on this together!! The following are my thoughts on how we can be a little lighter at heart, or at the very least, more mindful of how much laughter and happiness we portray for and towards our kids:

Whit and Dad in motion, so the image is wild and wooly (just like their wrestling).

So, yeah, maybe I am not the one down on the floor wrestling with the girls (that is 100% not my M.O.), but perhaps just spending more time taking pictures of the action would help me feel involved. Verbally being part of the action – calling over the counter, goading my husband or egging my daughters on while they are beating up their dad – can also bring the action to me. Hey, anything I can do to help take my husband down!

Tent Building 101

Similarly, a lot of the same could be said, here. Kevin is building the girls a tent (smack in the middle of my living room, I must add). Building things with your kids is certainly something that plays into feelings of childhood. Although I am not showing you an image of it, I have built my 4-year-old many train tracks so she can motorize her trains around the living room. An activity like that is remniscent of childhood for us adults – I mean, how long has it been since YOU have built a train track?! – but it also shows your kids that you are willing to play with toys, too, even if it is just to craft something for them.

Family bike ride/walk.

I just have to mention here that I am always the cameraman, so I am often not in the pictures. However, I am always there, even if you can’t see me. This was today, actually. We decided to go on a family walk and the girls wanted to ride their bikes. Let it suffice to say that the parents ran for most of it in order to keep up with the quick bike riding (although Dad did run more than Mom, as I became the pack mule for jackets). This is an easy way to tap into your childish side – it doesn’t involve play (per se) and you can take advantage of all the things you see outside to spark engaging conversations with your kids. One of the last times we went walking, we even did a fun scavenger hunt!

Harry Potter Joke Book – is there a joke book any better?!

Wahoo! Where my Harry Potter fans at?! For someone like me who doesn’t love getting on the floor and playing doll house, I am all for looking for alternative ways to entertain my kids. Enter, The Unofficial Harry Potter Joke Book. This book sits right beside my 9-year-old’s bed and every night after she has been in bed for a little bit, her father, or I, go in and read a few jokes to her from this book. Sometimes we ask Alexa for a kid joke or two, but those usually end up being duds. This small activity is a nice way to end the evening with her, and assists her in going to bed with a smile on her face.

Excuse the shadow (darn sun placement) but this was a killer game of sidewalk chalk tic-tac-toe.

I love to color. I love to doodle and pretend I know how to draw, and I even love sidewalk chalk. The other day it was finally nice enough to go outside and be for a bit. During that time, we played a little tic-tac-toe (my 4-year-old almost beat me) and we even made and used a hopscotch “board”. THIS kid entertainment, I can do! Especially if there is sun involved.

So I am not sure that talking through my feelings on this matter has made me feel any better about struggling to meet my children part way in the childish department. But it has made me feel better when I look at the alternatives of what I could be doing with them, (and knowing that I don’t have to make myself miserable at the same time).

Finding your inner child and acting foolish once in a while – dancing in your kitchen, drawing pictures that represent your family, making silly faces or using Snap Chat and taking pictures of yourselves (ooh! I forgot that I have done that with them), and having a tickle torture moment – builds memories for all of you. Memories that won’t likely fade any time soon. It can also become a moment where you can release some stress and simply just be with your kids. That might be the most important lesson out of all of this.