The Playmate

You teach your children to play, create and express themselves without apology. You're often having just as much fun as they are, but somewhere between celebrating their inner child and rediscovering your own, you can forget that you're allowed to play, too.

Your Mom Code

You are the mother who brings the magic of play into your children's lives.

You're the mom who gets right into the dress-up box, dances in the kitchen and turns an ordinary afternoon into an adventure. Sometimes it's hard to tell who's having more fun, you or the kids!

You teach your children that life is meant to be experienced, creativity is meant to be expressed and there's nothing wrong with taking up a little space.

You don't just encourage their imagination. You enter their world and play alongside them.

What Makes You Special

You have a gift for teaching your children what full self-expression looks like.

You celebrate their creativity, encourage their individuality and make room for their big personalities. Whether they're putting on a living room performance, inventing an imaginary world or proudly showing you something they've created, you know how to make them feel seen.

You remind your children that joy doesn't have to be earned and that being themselves is something worth celebrating.

Your superpower is giving your children permission to shine. You teach them that their creativity, individuality and joy deserve to take up space.

What to Watch For

Sometimes your child's freedom to be loud, silly, dramatic or unapologetically themselves can bring you face-to-face with the parts of your own childhood that weren't given the same freedom.

If you grew up feeling that you had to be quiet, behave yourself or grow up too quickly, you might find yourself shutting down your child's play when it becomes too loud, messy or overwhelming.

You may not even realize that you're responding to something you learned long before becoming a mother.

But your child isn't just someone you're teaching how to play. They can also remind you of the little girl inside you who deserved that same freedom.

Be mindful of the moments when your child's self-expression makes you uncomfortable. There may be an opportunity to give both of you a little more room to play.

What You Need

You need joy, creativity and opportunities to express yourself outside of motherhood.

You need to remember what makes you feel alive. The music you love, the clothes you want to wear, the hobbies that excite you and the experiences that make you feel like a kid again.

Your children can be wonderful playmates, but your inner child deserves a life of her own, too.

Make room for fun that doesn't revolve around entertaining your family. Create something just because you want to. Be silly. Be dramatic. Take up space.

You don't have to wait for your children to invite you into their world to experience joy in yours.

Your children aren't the only ones who deserve a magical childhood. The little girl inside you still deserves to play.