Jun 2, 2026 · 52 min · 12 segments
What if the secret to fewer power struggles, better behavior, and a stronger connection with your child isn't another parenting hack—but play? In this episode of *The Running Wine Mom*, Samantha sits…
Samantha SlinskyHost
So for the parents that are listening and they're kind of like the people in the schools, you know, who they hear play therapy and they they think, what? This doesn't you know, this isn't going to work or I don't have time to play.
Whether I know they work or not, it's hard to convince parents how to parent sometimes.
But if they just, like I said, if they just are open-minded about it, there is a mindset shift to it.
And I'll share two really quick kind of stories and hope that it answers the question.
But the first one being, And I share this a lot, and I mean this in a funny way.
It's a metaphor that I use a lot about how when two dogs meet for the first time, they sniff each other to see if they like each other, right? To connect, they sniff each other.
Hi, how are you? What's your name? How do we get to know each other? What do we have in common? But it's all done through talking.
When two kids connect at the park with their neighbors, what do they say? Can you play with me? Or knock, knock, knock.
Sometimes they just walk up to the child next to them and just start playing, parallel playing, you know, aside them.
So as absurd as it would be for a parent or for, yeah, for adults to think that they would meet each other by sniffing each other.
Can you imagine like adults being in the wild and like sniffing each other? It's just, I know the image.
But it's just as absurd for parents to think that they can connect with their child through talking because play is their language.
So for the parents that are listening and they're kind of like the people in the schools, you know, who they hear play therapy and they they think, what? This doesn't you know, this isn't going to work or I don't have time to play.
Whether I know they work or not, it's hard to convince parents how to parent sometimes.
But if they just, like I said, if they just are open-minded about it, there is a mindset shift to it.
And I'll share two really quick kind of stories and hope that it answers the question.
But the first one being, And I share this a lot, and I mean this in a funny way.
It's a metaphor that I use a lot about how when two dogs meet for the first time, they sniff each other to see if they like each other, right? To connect, they sniff each other.
Hi, how are you? What's your name? How do we get to know each other? What do we have in common? But it's all done through talking.
When two kids connect at the park with their neighbors, what do they say? Can you play with me? Or knock, knock, knock.
Sometimes they just walk up to the child next to them and just start playing, parallel playing, you know, aside them.
So as absurd as it would be for a parent or for, yeah, for adults to think that they would meet each other by sniffing each other.
Can you imagine like adults being in the wild and like sniffing each other? It's just, I know the image.
But it's just as absurd for parents to think that they can connect with their child through talking because play is their language.
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