Your child asks you to come and play. You tell them soon. You check the time, then your phone, and soon goes by. When you look up they have stopped asking.
It is about you. It says nothing about your child.
01
What it means here
In an adult, being a kid again means these nine things.
Having curiosity.
Being spontaneous.
Finding the innocence in life again.
Having fun.
Being adventurous.
Breaking out of the routine.
Being present.
Being expressive without attacking.
Speaking your truth.
02
What gets in the way
Often it is plain tiredness. A parent who has worked all day and made dinner may have nothing left for the floor. That is a long day, and it is not a rule.
Sometimes it may be something else. In this library a rule is a condition a person may be meeting in order to stay safe or worthy. Two of the nine, as examples.
Under Output what it says will happen is if I stop producing, I'll find out I was never worth anything on my own, and play may not count as producing anything.
Under Ahead the fear is that if you stop managing, something goes wrong again. Play may be the least managed part of a day.
It may be another rule, or none. This page does not sort the two, and two examples are not enough to tell.
03
How the two halves fit
This section does two things, and they go together.
A parent's reaction can show where a rule may be running. What Your Reaction to Your Child Can Show You is about that.
And a rule that loosens may leave more room for the things on the list above. Nothing here promises that. It is the reason the section exists.
04
What it may look like
It may be small. Walking through the puddle and not around it. Staying on the floor after the game has stopped making sense.
05
What this section will not do
It gives no parenting advice, and it says nothing about what children feel or become. What This Section Won't Tell You says why.
If you are worried about your child, a pediatrician or a licensed family therapist is the right door.
The method behind every page here is subtraction.
What happens when you sit down to play and can't, with the question that separates those two rules, is on When You Can't Play.