Happy Parenting

Were they having fun? You bet. And where was Dad? He was standing about 10 metres away so he wouldn’t get covered in mud.

We live less than a couple of hundred metres from the Brisbane River and on a walk along the riverbank during a light rain I heard a lot of happy noise coming from down the track a bit.

As I got closer I discovered two children running and sliding in the puddles of mud. The young brother and sister were almost completely covered in mud. They were having a great time. Approaching the Dad, I told him he was a good Dad for letting the kids have so much fun. He let me know he didn’t have a whole lot of say in it, but all the same he wasn’t telling them to stop making such a mess or to hurry up and come home.

Seems to me kids these days don’t have as much fun as we did when we were kids. We didn’t have a lot, but we knew how to have a lot of fun doing things like slipping and sliding in the mud.

But kids were born to have fun. They naturally make their own fun. They laugh easily and frequently when they’re hanging out with their friends. A child who doesn’t laugh or doesn’t laugh very often is not having a good life.

Good parents create an environment where their children can have fun. Where they can explore, create, run and be themselves.

Come to think of it adults were born to have fun too. Maybe slipping and sliding in mud isn’t your game, but it might be. There’s lots of bad news in our world and too often we overdose on it, and don’t spend enough time having fun. And then wonder why we feel depressed.

Lighten up. Do something spontaneous. Hang out with friends who make you laugh. Hang out with some kids. Hang out with your grandchildren.

What do adults do to have fun? Not enough.

As we move further into 2014 make plans to do something new that’ll make you laugh a lot. Like enrol in one of those sexy Latin American dance classes. Or have a crack at wakeboarding. Buy a bike and some of that lycra gear and feel the breeze flow through your hair.

There’s no doubt about it, laughter is good medicine.



Tags: Fun, Activity, Freedom, Spontaneous, Joy.