2021: A Fresh Outlook

Although 2020 was difficult in many ways, it’s refreshing to see positive revelations come from it. One thing is for sure: we depend on each other to get through life’s toughest moments. Throughout 2020, we watched people connect through many challenges by sharing similar experiences and offering words of encouragement and support.

We absolutely love seeing you, our customers, share your experiences not just with our products, but how our products play a part in those crazy, beautiful, and sometimes yes, challenging, life moments. Although many of us at Constructive Playthings are educators and parents ourselves, the creative ideas and learning experiences you build for the children in your life are incredible. The lessons you learn and messages you share resonate with other fellow educators and parents, like ourselves, around the world.

In 2021, we hope to spotlight some of those incredible messages from you, our customers. We are grateful for your inexhaustible insight and of course, your support through this past year.

When we’re having one of those days when our children just aren’t listening, instead of thinking, "Ok this is expected, she’s 2, she’s figuring out life", we immediately (and naturally) think, "this is because of COVID; she’s bored, she’s inside all day." We approach their behavior with this energy - we bring the guilt, frustration, and . . . helplessness to our interaction without even realizing it. ⁣

⁣⁣I’m not downplaying how much the pandemic has added to our difficulty in parenting, working from home, lack of the same childcare, and just overall added stress; but what if we really try to separate that from the individual tough moments?⁣⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣Just yesterday, a mom shared that she went to a store with her two-year-old son. He was running around everywhere and it was impossible for her to ensure he wasn’t going to break something. She immediately thought, "this is because we haven’t been out a lot", so imagine her energy when she’s trying to help manage his behavior. She’s feeling bad for both of them and maybe angry at life’s circumstances right now. What if she really tried to think, "we’re in a store with fragile things. This is tough, pandemic or not!" ⁣

⁣⁣Yesterday, Tess’s birthday gift came. I’ve waited for weeks for it! We opened it up and I recognized that feeling--where I’m angry at what life is like right now. I couldn’t just ask our neighbor, who usually helps us put things together, to come over and help due to safety concerns. So, I was about to approach the situation in this light and almost thought, "Tess is going to be so frustrated, this is going to take me forever, she’ll never be able to wait, I have to make dinner, and this is just a disaster and it’s all because of the pandemic." Instead, I said, "Ok let’s do this!" We then attempted to put it together . . . together. Of course, we didn’t finish, but I didn’t blame the pandemic, not once. I just said, "Some things take a while to put together, but in the morning it will be ready for you." She accepted that, and guess what? I did too. ⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣⁣Look at what I managed to put together all BY MYSELF (Tess helped a little)!

Have a moment to share with us? Be sure to tag us and use the hashtag #constructiveinsights in your post. We’d love to potentially feature you on our social feeds and/or in an upcoming email!