Stressed out?
Work.
Finances.
Work.
There are plenty of things in our day-to-day lives that can introduce a considerable amount of stress. Just the other day I had an experience at work that resulted in a temporary source of stress – which was resolved with a quiet evening spent with a good friend.
Regardless of what may be causing the stress in your life there is a surefire way to forget about everything and enjoy the moment.
Play with your children.
It is amazing to see how spending some time goofing around with the kids can eliminate stress. While kids are not immune from stress by any means, they have an uncanny ability to move past the stressful situation and find something new to occupy their attention.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been mildly stressed about work recently but last night had the pleasure of experiencing a healthy dose of stress free time with my son. Our oldest son plays basketball and their season comes to an end this coming weekend. For the last practice, his coach pulled all the parents off the sideline to participate in practice with their kids.
While it was evident that the basketball skill abandoned many of the parents quite some time ago, you could literally see the stress melt away from the parents as they enjoyed playing with their kids. The competition kicked into gear with a game of horse between the parents and kids – by the way, it is amazing to see how these young boys have already mastered the art of talking smack on the court.
Let me tell you that there is nothing that can eliminate stress like the sight of your child smiling from ear to ear as you spend time with them in an activity that they enjoy.
The next time have a situation that is causing you stress, stop what you are doing and spend some time playing with your children. If you don’t have children, don’t let that stop you as you can still spend some time playing like you were a child.
However, I recommend an activity a little less demanding than basketball – as the wind sprint relay race really killed all of the parents while the children were barely breathing hard! 
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I consider myself a pretty playful adult, and I’m a huge advocate of play, but it still takes me a little while (15 minutes?) to get absorbed in play with my 3-1/2 year old son once we start. It’s a big difference between playing because you want to occupy your kid and really getting into it – sort of a “flow” experience…
Mike Lanza’s last blog post..Social Class and Neighborliness
Most of the time rough-housing with the kids is just what the doctor ordered. When that’s not the case, and on the days when I simply am too exhausted, I’ve found that reading to my two kids is perfect. It keeps their energy levels in check, allows us to bond, and also helps their brains develop a little more.