Go play...

Yesterday my son, Elliott, grabbed the laptop curled up on the couch with it, and told me with all seriousness "go play; I'm working." At 3-1/2 his work mostly consisted of a treasure hunt on Disney Junior with Jake and the Neverland Pirates, but it made me wonder how many times a day I say that to him. "Go play; I'm working." Not to say it isn't necessary. I do need to work. I have responsibilities to fill and paychecks to earn because there are bills to be paid. Today though and hopefully tomorrow and the next, etc. during my off hours not on shift I intend to fill them focused just as much as I can on him. Instead of "go play" I am going to say "come play", come play with me. We can build with blocks or color or crash cars or shoot Nerf guns. It is this playtime that I cherish and hope that he does too. It is this playtime in the middle of the day that makes getting up and working at 4:30 a.m. worth it. It is the ability to be at home watching my child learn and grow that encouraged me to take up the training and practice to be able to do this job. I feel blessed to be able to be at home with him, to be able to say "Go play; I'm working" but equally blessed to be able to say "Come play."