The importance of PLAY

Debbie Tembo - 16 Aug 14

I’m not a mum that enjoys play and with a lot on my plate, I find it hard to make time for play. In fact, playing seems more like a luxury than a necessity to me. But here’s the thing that I’ve been learning over the Summer holidays – play is important and it actually is a necessity, especially to my children. When I make the time to play with them, it means so much, in fact, it matters more to them than any material item that I might buy to make up for the lack of attention and time that I sometimes don’t give them.

Interestingly, there are moments of play that when I’m fully engaged, I really enjoy – like colouring a book or activity sheet, building a puzzle, making shapes out of play doh and playing with Lego. Then, there are the moments of play that really challenge me – like playing dolls, house, teachers, doctors, etc. you know, the ones that require you to dig deep as an adult in to your imagination and immerse yourself in a world of make-believe. Those moments require me to embrace my inner child, which once done is so exciting for my children, although my limit is about 20 minutes!

We recently visited Peppa Pig World in Paultons Park and I was initially reticent about the excursion, but I landed up having as good a time as the kids, if not more! Embracing the experience and being wholeheartedly engaged in what was fun for them made such a difference for all of us and we made memories to last a lifetime. Engaging in these playful behaviours as Dr. Stuart Brown talks about, really did “shape my brain, open my imagination and invigorate my soul”. Besides, doing something so far removed from my “list of to-do’s” was fun and what I need to do more of! It made my children happy, it made me happy and that is enough.

I’m not saying that it will be easy to play in the weeks and months and years ahead, but by God, I will try to cultivate more time for it in my schedule. Oh and by the way, play doesn’t just mean spending time with my children, it also means engaging in all those activities that I enjoy by myself and with others.

Debbie Tembo

I am Debbie, I am Mme (which means mother in Sesotho) and I am Me. I am Mme to two beautiful daughters, Lerato aged 5.5 years and Nia aged 3.5 years. I am South African-born, from the beautiful city of Cape Town, but London, UK is what I've been calling my home for the past 7 years. I am a marketing professional with work experience in the FMCG sector and in a strategic brand and innovation agency but since starting a family my career has been somewhat on ice. I started blogging as the first step in doing more for me and living out my personal mantra of "courage in my diversity over mediocrity". This is my journey, this is Mme and Me.

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