relationships.
What You Can Do:
Helping Your Child Integrate Self and Other
Whole-Brain Strategy #11:
Increase the Family Fun Factor: Making a Point to Enjoy Each
Other
Do you ever feel like you’re spending most of your time either
disciplining the kids or carting them from one activity to the next,
and not enough time just enjoying being with them? If you do,
you’re not alone; most of us feel this from time to time. Sometimes
it’s easy to forget to just have fun as a family. Yet we are
hardwired for play and exploration as well as for joining with one
another. In fact, “playful parenting” is one of the best ways to
prepare your children for relationships and encourage them to
connect with others. That’s because it gives them positive
experiences being with the people they spend the most time with:
their parents.
Of course children need structure and boundaries and to be held
accountable for their behavior, but even as you maintain your
authority, don’t forget to have fun with your kids. Play games. Tell
jokes. Be silly. Take an interest in what they care about. The more
they enjoy the time they spend with you and the rest of the family,
the more they’ll value relationships and desire more positive and
healthy relational experiences in the future.
The reason is simple. With every fun, enjoyable experience you
give your children while they are with the family, you provide
them with positive reinforcement about what it means to be in
loving relationship with others. One reason has to do with a
chemical in your brain called dopamine. Dopamine is a