I'm a mom, stepmom, and theatre educator who helps parents connect with their children by accessing their silly side! No messy arts and crafts, complicated activities, or sensory bins here -- just easy, simple, silly moments to share as a family. Short weekly emails include free resources, exclusive discounts, inspiration, playful tips, and easy game ideas.
I keep learning this lesson... can you relate?
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I'm at my worst as a parent when I feel pressured to do things a certain way. For example: I lost touch with my silly side when I became a stepmom because I felt pressure to maintain strict routines and discipline. It wasn’t until I embraced my own style that I found my playfulness again. I relearned that lesson again while potty training my son this past month. I confidently went for the popular three-day method that had worked well for my stepdaughter. I committed to playfulness along the way, keeping things silly and fun. Yet on day five, I was googling “potty training broke me.” Despite his progress, we were both emotionally drained. The all-or-nothing approach just wasn’t working for us. I called my husband, sobbing, “I need to take a step back." Defeated, I bought some pull-ups, despite ALL the advice against it... But, by “giving up," I feel like I succeeded. Now, we're taking it easy with more freedom and flexibility, and he's making progress at his own pace. We're all happier and much less stressed. Here’s the beauty about incorporating *playfulness* into potty training: Three-day method? Playfulness will help. Taking it slow and easy? Playfulness will help. If potty training is in your future, download this FREE list of my favorite 11 creative, silly ideas: If you’re past that stage, think about something you can “bless and release,” as Susie of @busytoddler says! Did potty training go as you expected? Have you ever felt pressured to do something a certain way? Reply and let me know. I love hearing from you! Love, Mia P.S. I’m excited to share that I landed my first "sponsored" IG post with a brand I love, featuring this playful potty resource. I wanted to send it to you first as a thanks for staying in touch. Future collaborations like this will help me continue offering free, valuable content. Your engagement on the upcoming post will be more appreciated than you know! 🙏🏽 P.P.S. I'm experimenting with sending short, weekly emails to keep in touch. I’ll still be posting on Instagram but focusing more here to ensure you see my content. Thanks for sticking around! |
Playful Heart Parenting
I'm a mom, stepmom, and theatre educator who helps parents connect with their children by accessing their silly side! No messy arts and crafts, complicated activities, or sensory bins here -- just easy, simple, silly moments to share as a family. Short weekly emails include free resources, exclusive discounts, inspiration, playful tips, and easy game ideas.
On Friday, I felt like a total failure. A friend invited us to the park, and I thought, “Yes, we need this.” I’ve been having a lot of guilt over not being outside enough with my son (it’s been hard to do that for a number of reasons). The story in my head was: This is your chance to redeem yourself and be a better mom. That narrative inside my head is exactly why the following events were such a blow to my confidence and self-worth: My son was so excited, asking me all day when we’d leave....
I got this message yesterday on Instagram: “Your videos are always so amazing. It seems like you have endless patience. How do you have the capacity at the end of a long day to still be silly? I find myself wanting it to move quickly and them just do what they need to so we can get to bedtime.” I’m going to be completely honest… I’m not a patient person by nature. I can lose my patience easily. I usually want things to move faster. I often start eating my food before I even get to the table...
Things have been rough around here. My baby girl has been very unhappy, and it’s been heartbreaking and stressful. On top of that, my husband’s been working seven-day weeks, and my almost-threenager has been having big feelings about it all. There’s been a lot of screaming from both kiddos. (And I, myself, may have stepped into another room yesterday to scream) I haven’t felt playful. I’ve been stressed and worried. And with that, the guilt creeps in—telling me it’s my fault my son is...