In today’s world, children live a life that is
over-scheduled. Children go from school, to after-hours day care,
sports, music and dance lessons or other types of after-school
activities. There are also the very important extracurricular studies
that are required in CCD classes, Bible school, Hebrew school lessons
and church choirs. There are incredible experiences to be had in Girl
Scouts, Boy Scouts, YMCA programs and all sorts of other wonderful
offerings that are available for kids. Although there is richness in
these types of opportunities, what they are missing is simple, basic
play. The kind of free-form play that helps children to negotiate other
kids personalities, solve problems and develop tools to teach them
something about the strength of their own inner character.
This type of knowledge is learned through personal
interaction, exposure to the same groups of people, and the time to
figure it out on their own. What has happened to personal time and core
communities for kids is that it has become as extinct as the Dinosaurs
we are so ready to haul them off to see at the local museums!
Sadly, there are also a tremendous amount of children
who sit alone, without a parent or guardian present and no children to
play with. There are working mothers who barely have enough time or
money to put food on the table, let alone worry about a child’s need to
play.
There is also another facet to this problem. And that
is, we as parents want to be with our children, and to share in the
amazing experiences that are available to them. But as wonderful, and as
stimulating as so many of these programs are, we need to give our
children a time to play.
What I propose here is to have group play dates. To
find a great group of people and create occasions to get together. This
way children can have friends, and grown ups get the chance to socialize
as well in an informal, casual way.
However, this proposition, although simple on paper,
does require initiative and some coordination. Most of the Women I know
today are exhausted. We are working stressful jobs, managing our
households and handling the details of our childrens' lives. The
constant running around is adding additional stress to our relationships
with our significant others. We barely have enough time to think through
the details of our own lives, let alone consider adding another level of
stress to our days. However, childhood, which impacts our children’s
lives down the road, is very much at stake here. That is why it is
important to make an effort to create these occasions. And it is
absolutely critical to make it a group effort.
