Why Getting Down On The Floor Matters
Then I came across the quote above.
I easily fall into the trap of needing to have it all to help my child succeed. As a mama, it is so easy to get caught up in what other moms are doing, what other moms are using, what other moms reading, and realizing what I am NOT doing. I then end up thinking “oh, I should be doing so much more” but really, what I should be doing is LESS.
There are days when my husband comes home from work and it looks like a tornado went through our home. Though why do we look at toys all over the floor as a “bad” thing? Is it because as homemakers, we feel we need to have a magazine-cover home at ALL times? Is it because we feel our job is to keep the house running? I personally feel that is part of my job, but so is parenting. So is loving our child well.
At work, I am sure one’s desk is a bit of a disaster at some point (I know mine is at school), so why don’t we allow that same freedom for ourselves as parents? By the end of the night, I do enjoy picking up our home, the floor, and having it clean and ready for a new day, just like my desk.
Yes, the unexpected person may come into your home at the most inopportune time, but why do we feel the need to apologize for the toys on the ground? Because it wasn’t clean? Why do we apologize for loving our children well and getting down on the floor and playing with them?
Sometimes our library of books are in piles all over the living room because that is how Mazy likes them. She likes to create piles (thanks to her organizing-loving mother), and we go from pile to pile and read them.
Then the blocks come out. We build a tower and the most exciting part is knocking it over, throwing the blocks everywhere. Blocks get stuck underneath the couch, are lying in other toys, and are spread all over the room. But not only were we playing hard, I had the opportunity to teach Mazy how to pick up to.
You see, if we don’t get down on the floor and play with our kids, how are they ever going to learn some of those life lessons that are most valuable? If we constantly have a perfectly neat floor, what does that teach our child – that we can’t let loose and enjoy what we have? If we constantly ignore their desire to play, when are they going to have an adult teach them a new concept, like a new word or picking up toys?
I know, I am speaking from the experience of having only one child. Of course, having more than one child complicates things a bit because of the amount of attention you can give a child and what else you have going on in life. I just know that the days that I am able to get down there, have Mazy sit on my lap, and spend that quality time with her, is when she is most content.
We don’t need more toys. We don’t need more things. All Mazy needs is that love from her parents that says you matter, we care, and you belong in this family.
As hard as it may be to get up off the floor (don’t know about you, but my joints aren’t getting any younger), it is worth every second on that floor.
