Childs Play Observation For Parents

Hello and welcome to this guided observation of child's play.

This lesson is suitable for parents of children in the age of newborns to toddlers.

My name is Gertrude and in this lesson I will guide you into the world of your own child.

You will look through the eyes of your child and you will learn to observe without judgement and expectations what your authentic child is showing you.

By communicating from a connection with the world of your child,

You can tune in better with each other and a lot of struggles and tears can give way to moments of calmly waiting and embracing.

I invite you to experience what it does to your child when they feel even more seen by you,

And what you will feel when you find more relaxation in parenthood.

You can do this lesson as often as you want and it will give you new discoveries every day and at every new stage of your child's development.

The intention of this lesson is that you sit on the floor near your child,

While your child is playing.

Your child might find it a bit strange at first,

Especially that you are wearing a headphones in the meantime,

But they will quickly get used to this.

Try to sit still,

As if you were a fly on the wall.

Try also to not initiate involvement in your child's play.

We want to really observe what your child wants to show you,

Your child in their own way of being.

Observing is tricky and it takes practice.

And also your child will certainly try to connect with you one or more times during the exercise and will also want to respond from you.

Of course you can interact at these moments.

And no worries if you miss something I say,

You can always repeat the exercise.

And an important note to remember is that while you are observing your child,

You can still intervene if that is necessary for the safety of your child.

So I want to ask you to please feel relaxed and grounded,

But not kneeled to the floor.

If you are not yet sitting comfortably and relaxed,

Please pause the audio for a moment to get yourself in a comfortable position near your playing child.

Ok,

You are sitting comfortable now.

I would like to ask you to really land in the here and now.

Feel yourself sitting on the ground.

Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.

I want you to visualize that you are wiping your own thoughts,

Tasks and worries all off the table with one big swipe.

Because for the next minutes,

All you have to do is look at your child.

You just have to open up to receive.

First I would like you to become aware of the space you are in.

And observe where your child is in the room.

What objects are nearby?

In which objects,

Clothing or surfaces are touching your child?

What can you observe about your child's body?

What is their body position?

Are they moving or still?

Do you see any major or minor changes happening in this moment?

I want to invite you to put words to this in your mind.

To name what you see,

Without judgment or expectations of a result of what your child is doing.

What is your child doing with their body right now?

Start your sentence with I see.

For example,

I see you are jumping with your body.

Now it's your turn,

I see.

Now shift your attention to your child's hands.

What are your child's hands doing?

Are they playing with an object?

Can you also mention this in your thoughts?

For example,

I see you are flipping through the pages of a book with your hands.

I see.

.

.

Then shift your attention to your child's eyes.

What are their eyes looking at?

Can you put this in words too,

In your mind?

For example,

I see that you are looking at a rolling ball.

I see.

.

.

Can you observe what your child is interested in at this very moment?

How do you see that?

How can you observe this?

Put this in words too.

For example,

I see that you are giving me the blocks repeatedly.

You are enjoying this activity.

You are smiling.

I see.

.

.

Now shift your focus on your child's breathing.

How is the breath of your child?

Maybe this can tell you something about how your child is doing.

How is their current well-being?

Can you also observe how your child might be feeling now?

Try to give words to this in your mind that begin with I see.

For example,

I see that you are breathing calmly.

You are comfortable.

I see.

.

.

You have observed a lot of things that were going on right in the moment that you were looking at your child.

Next,

I would like you to visualize a beautifully woven basket in your mind.

It's a basket that's very suitable to keep valuable objects in.

And gently you are going to place each of the observations that you made from your child in this basket.

You're going to collect all the things that you remember that you have seen in this exercise.

What your child did with their body,

Their hands,

What they were looking at,

What got their interest,

How they are feeling and all the other things that you saw during your observation,

Collect all these things carefully in the woven basket in your mind.

And when you are done collecting and everything is in the basket,

You can leave the top of the basket open and place it in front of you in your mind.

And look at the basket.

These are your child's experiences.

You have connected with this.

You can look at the basket and see all the things that you have collected in there.

These are your child's experiences.

You have connected with this.

But they are not yours.

So you can return them to your child.

You do not have to bring the observations along with you in the rest of the day.

But the basket remains open so the observations are always available to you to reconnect and you can make new ones and collect them in the basket again.

Now in your mind you can place the basket softly and lovingly right next to your child.

And you can let the basket go now.

When you observe and when you step into the world of your child and their experiences,

You become connected with them.

But you can remind yourself after that,

That you and your child are two individuals with each their own experiences and their own responsibilities for these experiences.

To finish this exercise I would like to ask you to place your hands on your heart.

Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.

I want to invite you to thank your child in your mind.

Thank them for all the things your child showed you today.

Thank you.

Thank you for showing me your world.

Thank you for showing me your experience since my child.

Thank you for letting me sit with you here and now.

And finally I would like to thank you.

Thank you for your trust and for your willingness to do this exercise with me.

I feel honored that you took the time to experience this exercise and I am very curious about how you and your child felt during the exercise and in the rest of your day.

If you want you can leave me a message about it,

I would really like that.

And for now I wish both of you a very happy continuation of your day.