![]() Overpowering my kids with threats, bribes or punishments was tempting, but honestly, it just felt wrong. Heck, there were days when I didn’t want to leave. We are a family who talks things out and I totally got why they didn’t want to leave the playground. But what? Do I need to start punishing my kids, counting to three, hoping I make it no further than two and a half before my children come running? Am I supposed to yell at them until they do what I say? Or is raising the white flag a better approach, burying my head in my hands and letting them see me cry in desperation? When the pattern started to deter me from going to the playground altogether, I knew something had to change. In fact, I didn’t even have a clue where to begin. In either case, we were a scene, and by the time I got them into the car, everyone, including yours truly, was in tears.Įxecuting a graceful playground exit is apparently one of the finer arts of parenting, and clearly one I hadn’t mastered. And when he really wasn’t feeling it, this would escalate to sad face plus flailing body slung under my arm. He didn’t want to leave either, though he wasn’t quick enough to escape, so there he’d be, his hand in mine with tears running down his face. Laughing maniacally, he’d climb a slide or shimmy to the top of a play structure and gleefully gaze down at me as though it was a joke, as though dinner didn’t need to be made and naps didn’t need to happen. ![]() Inevitably, when I announced it was time to go, my 3-year-old would run away. We could all let off a little steam there, but leaving the playground had become such a process that I almost stopped going altogether. I could sit on the bench and catch up with some parent friends while my littles jumped, slid, and climbed to their heart's content in a controlled setting. With two children under the age of 4, playgrounds had been a place of respite for me. I almost stopped bringing them to the playground.
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