Kids insight into stress relief

Conversation with my 10-year-old son (27 Oct, 2022)

Son: "Do you ever get tired of thinking?"

After my eyebrows raised, I replied: "Yes, but doesn't mean that my brain just stops because I feel tired."

Son: "Then what do you do? How don't you just fall over from being exhausted?"

A longer pause from me: "Well, I recognize when I am feeling mentally tired, and I practice ways to be #creative through laughing, what most would call daydreaming while doing something repetitive and trying something new."

Son: "What do you mean? I get the laughing one but the others sound like more work."

Me with a smile: "For the #daydreaming, I let my brain partially disengage and go on autopilot while I get something done like cleaning or cutting the grass. Those don't require intentional #focus but I still have to be doing something. It allows a mental escape while still accomplishing. The accomplishing helps me stay in a positive frame of mind.

Trying something new means I am out of my comfort zone big time. It means I need to only focus on one thing. That allows me to mentally relax in a different way."

Son: "I just like to play when I feel that way."

"You're a smart kid. I am doing that, in a way. The play for me, is the challenge in something new. Or the daydreaming where my brain is not restricted. They relieve the stress, and I feel better," I replied. "Why, what made you think of that? Do I look stressed?"

Son: "No, but you are always thinking. I don't know how you do it. But do you want to come play with me?"

Three things I relearned in that conversation:
1. Kids release stress through playing
2. Not everyone plays the same (A.K.A. the first thing you should remember about everyone is that they are not you)
3. Being #authentic and honest with your answers will receive the same responses back to you. If I hadn't taken his questions at face value and been honest, I won't have discovered he was stressed and seeking ways to release it.