When we published The Family Gap Plan blog post back in April, I’m not sure we realized that six months later the pandemic would still be with us. That post was based on an idea shared on the Brené Brown podcast, Unlocking Us. Sadly, the main elements of that post are still accurate:
- We Have Collectively Hit Weary
- It’s Not a Sprint, It’s a Marathon
In a more recent podcast, Brené Brown touches again on weariness, and she hits on an important topic that we addressed on the blog this summer, play.
“I have found that one of the greatest antidotes to despair and depression, and a great source of energy is play.” ~ Brene Brown
One PEP friendly idea from the podcast resonated — a brainstorming session where everyone in your family writes down four or five activities where you feel free to be yourself; to lose track of time. Brown’s family then created a Venn diagram, identifying intersection — things they enjoyed in common from those lists. And from that Venn diagram, a “playlist” is born — something that can energize and sustain your family as we move into this period of shorter days.
Good food is one way we play in my family — together, we bake bread, make pasta, and just last weekend, we gathered to make cider donuts. We lost track of time, laughed, and most importantly, life felt normal for a few hours. Share your family’s ideas in the comments; we can all learn from each other!
Back in July we hosted Dr. Lawrence Cohen, the author of Playful Parenting. If you weren’t able to join the webinar live, check it out in our robust offering of on-demand videos!