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Playful Parenting by Dr. Cohen

I want to share a snippet of a book with you because I wonder if you might relate:

“Regardless of whether I was having a good day or bad day, was in the mood or not, my daughter wanted to play. She wanted to interact with me when I didn’t feel like interacting with anybody; she wanted my complete attention when I had other things to attend to; she wanted me to be on call, even if she was playing alone. More often than I’d like to admit, I’d find myself wanting to do anything else rather than get down on the floor and engage her seemingly bottomless need for attention and play. Or I’d get on the floor and promptly fall asleep- and not just from being a tired parent. After all, I had already given so much of myself, and now she wanted me to play.” (p. xi)

I relate to this author, and I wonder if you do too. It’s hard to constantly engage children, especially through play. We feel guilty for not playing with our children enough, and though we recognize that something meaningful and important is happening in them through it, we struggle to get on the floor and do it.

I’m surprised that I’ve never come across this author’s book until now. It’s called “Playful Parenting” by Dr. Lawrence Cohen. There have been many times when parents have asked me for a book recommendation that will teach them how to use play to connect with their children and improve their behavior. Though I have a long list of books for clinicians to read on this topic, I’ve yet to find one written for parents… until now. If you are interested in learning how to harness the power of play to nurture a close connection with your child and eliminate behavior problems, I highly encourage you to consider reading this book. Plus, it makes a great New Year resolution!

Source: Amy Wickstrom, PhD, Marriage and Family Therapist, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor. The play therapy blog at More Than a Toy (www.morethanatoy.com/blog)