John’s series 9– Never enough time to play!

“Mom, who I am going to play with today?” It is usually John’s first question after he wakes up during summer break.

“We are going to have brunch with Maggie and her mother.” On most Sundays I will arrange play days for him.

“ Is that all? What about after brunch?” Of course John always expects more activities and fun.

“After brunch, we are going to Splashdown water park together.” Of course, as a mother I know my son very well.

“ After the water park, can we have dinner together with them at Whitespot?” one of John’s most favorite restaurants is always Whitespot .And another one is Boston Pizza, because they know how to please kids with kids meals and games. John can eat ice cream after dinner there. At home, I try to teach him not to eat lots of sugar.

“I need to ask them if they would like to have dinner together…” I told him.

Above is a typical conversation on weekends or before weekends. John likes to play with his friends from dawn to dusk. He never has enough time to play with his friends.

During summer break, before we left for a vacation in China, I sent John to my friend’s home every morning around 8:30 and picked him up at 6pm after work. Every afternoon when I picked him up he always tried to stay longer.

“I haven’t been to the park yet. I need to finish building this Lego house with Evan. Can I play 10 minutes more? Can you go to have dinner first then pick me up from auntie’s home, I have eaten dinner with Grace & Evan already….”

Everyday seems like a short day for my son. I am surprised to find that a full day is far from enough for John to play with his friends.

“What? It’s bed time again? I haven’t had a chance to play yet…” He always feels sad when we remind him the time for bed is approaching.

As a mom, who also had a great joyful childhood. I always have a debate with my husband. In my husband’s traditional, conservative, hardworking oriented opinion, he thinks John should spend his time more on reading and studying instead of playing.

“What do you have after you played with your friends a full day? One day passed but nothing is left.” My husband always educates John in that way.

I told my husband that, as a kid, play is very important for John. Through playing with his friends, he can build friendship, learn communication, explore the world with his buddies, have a great memory of childhood, and simply have fun!

Although my husband is not a person who thinks “having fun” is important in life, I do insist on it.

My John shall enjoy his kid’s time as much as possible. Adulthood is not reversible. Childhood is not long enough in a lifetime. Even after growing up, “having fun” is always part of life. I strongly believe that if people do not know how to “have fun” and relax after hardwork, they are too hard on themselves.

My last opinion is that, I hope my John can learn how to balance his life. As well as having fun everyday, he’d better also remember to do his homework on time and go to bed on time to be energetic and healthy.

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