An acrobat needs their snacks…

An acrobat needs their snacks 🤸🏽‍♀️ 

Like most toddler parents, on days off, the world – well, mostly the park – is our playground. We split our day between eating & playing. That usually involves at least one, but mostly two, park visits or on rainy days we might branch out & have a soft play sesh or go to the local museum for a peruse. 

While for some, this may seem like a total snooze-fest & actually on more than one occasion I have seen a parent or two nodding off at the park catching Z’s while their kid leaps fearlessly across the top of the climbing frame (no judgement here!) I however have found the key to unlock the joy of these could-be tedious ritual activities. You’ve just gotta join in. 

I grew up in a household where my parents were always the first up to dance at parties, always participated in games and are now just generally playful and fun people. Mum particularly has always, as they say, danced like no one is watching and never once have I felt a sense of embarrassment for that expression of freedom. I wanted to be just like her, catching the beat of the music and letting my body hitch on for the ride. There’s no purer joy.

With my daughter now, we sing incy wincy in our best operatic voices as we leg-it under the underpass, our chants echoing through both sides of the tunnel. We walk through public spaces in the manner of a T-Rex, with accompanying (and truly authentic) dinosaur sound effects. We have mini celebratory dance parties in the middle of the park, which are becoming more frequent now as it’s how we mark the unlocking of new park skill. Stepping stones? Done! Big slide? Completed it mate! Army net climb? A little wobbly, but made it! 

One of the many beautiful unexpected offerings parenthood brings you, is the permission to play again. A lifetime of performing arts already shaped this part of me and gave me tools to shake any anxieties over looking silly or being judged but as you get older, the fear of garnering unwanted attention and looking a fool naturally catches up with us all. I love my days when we are just silly together, seeing the joy of Flora’s face when I’m right there with her climbing, jumping, sliding, swinging (actually no,

I’m not allowed on the swings!) is just a lovely lovely thing. 

I absolutely advocate for adult parks and soft plays too. A place we can play like pirates, act like the floor is lava and charge around making yodelling sounds. (And not in a weird way!)