Build 'Em Up :: The Joy of Playing with Your Kids

I'm linking up again today with Erin, Kelly, Jennifer, and Courtney for today's Build 'Em Up topic-- The Joy of Playing with Your Kids. I loved reading all the posts a few weeks ago and am looking forward to reading more today! 

I am no stranger to playing with kids. In high school and college, I only ever held one "real" job because I made all my money babysitting. I was the little girl who played with dolls well into upper elementary school and who always dreamt of having a houseful of children myself. I entered college knowing full well that I wanted to be an elementary school teacher and never wavered once. I taught kindergarten and loved every second of it! Yes, I was teaching, but in kindergarten, there is still a lot of free and structured play. 

Then, my sweet Griffin boy came along. Newborns don't do a whole lot of playing, but I did sit around, admire, and snuggle him as long as he'd let me. He was a very sweet content baby and we did a lot of getting to know each other in those first few months. It was a sweet season; I was learning this fantastic new little person, he was learning me, and I was able to stay on top of things around the house relatively well because he wasn't mobile. 

But then Griffin grew, as babies typically do. That wasn't meant to be a rhyme, but whatever. It became harder to keep up around things around the house because he was mobile. Then, he began to learn how to express himself and tell me what he wanted. Now, I have a rambunctious and fun loving toddler who has no problem telling me what he wants to do and more importantly, what he wants me to do.

Griffin would love nothing more than to play with his mama 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and truthfully, I would love to do nothing more, but it's just not realistic. I remember feeling supremely guilty about this around a year ago when someone told me that it was good for Griffin to see me doing things around the house, because I was working for the Lord and for my husband. That was very comforting to me and helped to ease my self-imposed guilt a little bit.

However, it's a really hard balance to strike. I don't do well at this. I find that I have days where I clean and tidy and work every one of Griffin's waking hours and then I have days where I let everything go to pot because I just play with him all day long. And to me, that's okay. That's life. 

Until recently, I was working outside of the house 2-3 days a week. Griffin was with me, which we were so grateful for, but it was still 2-3 days outside of my house. I felt like I could never catch up, which was an unrealistic expectation I put on myself, but I found that when we were home, I was running around doing things like a crazed maniac. It wasn't pretty, but that's another post for another time. Unfortunately, that insecurity that I placed on myself affected the time I played with Griffin. I was always thinking of what I needed to do next and what was on my to-do list for that day. Pretty dumb, but it's true. 

As Griffin has grown into a two year old, he plays independently pretty well, but there is nothing that brings him to life like uninterrupted play with his mama that is free of the phone, television, and any other distractions. We love to play puzzles, color, dance, read, and play with cars and his construction vehicles. He is all boy and he loves running around, wrestling, throwing balls, and playing in forts. We both love being outside and are both craving better weather. This sounds cheesy, but really, it doesn't matter what we're doing as long as we're together. I love that about our bond. I love that the girls titled this weeks post theme "The Joy of Playing with Your Kids", because that really is the primary emotion I feel when Griffin and I play together! He is my joy boy. 

I'm trying to get better about being interrupted by Griffin wanting to play. Sure, there are times where I need to finish what I'm doing, but many times when he comes running to me saying, "Mommy sit!" or "Mommy, got you!" (which are his ways of saying he wants time with me), I am fully capable of putting down what I'm doing and returning to it at a later time. I know it's cliche, but the saying really is true-- the days are long, but the years are short. There will always be rooms to clean, emails to return, dinner to start, laundry to do, etc., but my boy will not always be two. I need that reminder tattooed on my forehead. 

It is our prayer that we will someday have more children, so this really will be the only time of my life that I have an only child and it's a special thing to be able to focus on him and our time together. I love being Griffin's mom! It is truly one of my greatest earthly joys. 

And just to keep it real, as I was putting the finishing touches on this post, he was begging me to play cars with him. I kept saying, "Just one more minute!" which is just what I'm trying to avoid. Come on, Rachel! Read your own post, for crying out loud. The next thing I know, I look over and he is EATING THE SEQUINS OFF MY FANCY EASTER RABBIT. I tried to fish them out of his mouth and got bit in the process and I'm pretty sure I didn't even get them all. That will be a fun diaper change. 

After the fancy Easter rabbit incident, I pulled him up on my lap for the last few moments of this post. He sat so sweetly and quietly-- he just wanted to be with his mama and the feeling is completely mutual. We even took a picture that I will share (in all my makeup free glory, WOOF) so that I can remember this lazy, pajama filled morning where he ate some pink sequins. But seriously, I love this boy with my whole heart and it's my prayer that I can start prioritizing time to play with him over the silly things that can wait. I know that someday, he probably won't even want to talk to me, so I'm soaking it up while I can. I'm so thankful for my little trophy of grace in my life... my sweet, sweet boy!