While enjoying a typical park day I became exceedingly distracted by an over-bearing father who was instructing his toddler how to play. The man, who must have been at least 40 was shuffling his kid so quickly between the areas the poor kid couldn’t finish a sand castle or reach the bottom of the slide without his dad scooping him up and telling him what was on the agenda next.

It was to play, what power walking is to a stroll. I watched, from a seated position on a nearby bench, as my daughter dug a tunnel, made a mountain, created sand soup and sand birthday cakes (complete with stick candles) and so on - patiently, what’s the hurry? Honestly even if we only had a little time to play at the park, I would just assume let her do her own thing. Here’s a news flash - kids know what they want to play with! She doesn’t need me to play coach to her park activities.  read more »