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For the Fun of It
Loving, Chasing and Playing with Toddlers
By Mark Stackpole
Some of the family play is more realistic in nature. "The kids are very interested in their environment and the adults in it," Mills says. "They want to 'play' at being grownups, which helps them make some connections to the adults in their lives. My daughter is very much a girly-girl, and we feed her baby dolls, put them to bed. My son has said to me, 'Let's play Realtor and sell this house.'"
Dr. Susan Kuczmarski, an authority on the dynamics of family culture and the author of The Family Bond (McGraw-Hill, 2000) and The Sacred Flight of the Teenager: A Parent's Guide to Stepping Back and Letting Go (Bookends, 2004), says play is pure joy. "Contrary to what most people think, play is not business, not obligation, not something that has to be done, not something necessarily productive and not necessarily involved with something 'worthwhile,'" she says. "There are times for these things, but they are not play. Play means to laugh, jump, celebrate and feel happy. Pure play is not necessarily connected to certain learning skills, but when it is, this is an added benefit."
