Families are the busiest they've ever been. According to a Pew Research Center report, nearly half of all two-parent families have two partners who work full time, a sharp increase from previous decades. With schedules often bursting at the seams between work, school, appointments, and extracurricular activities, it's no surprise that more than half of all working parents say this balancing act is difficult. And all work and no fun makes for some dull parenting.

現在，每個家庭都是最忙的時候。據皮尤研究中心報道，在雙親家庭中，近半數父母都有全職工作，與前幾十年相比，這一數量急劇增加。他們每天都在工作、學校、預約和課外活動間奔走，難怪多半以上有全職工作的父母會說想要取得平衡真是件難事。由于這些家長只有工作而沒有樂趣，所以他們的教育方式也很無趣。

If you never quite know what to do with stuffed animals, or you feel like every stack of construction paper is just another project, all is not lost. You can connect with your kids and find fun doing it. It just takes a little time, and maybe not doing arts and crafts if that stresses you out.

如果你不太了解怎么搞填充動物，或者覺得每一疊建筑圖紙只是另一個項目，那就還有一線希望。你可以了解自己的孩子，和他們一起找尋樂趣。這只需要一小會兒，如果壓力很大的話，可以不用選擇做藝術品或手工藝品。

I'm a businesswoman, a wife, and a mom of two boys, and time is at a premium for me. It can feel nearly impossible to fit in frequent, uninterrupted family time, so I've learned to embrace making the most of the time we do have together. It's the best I can do, and it's been proven that there's no better way to bond than through play.

我是位女商人、一位妻子，也是兩個男孩兒的媽媽，對我來說，時間非常重要。我幾乎不可能經常和家人不受外界的打擾呆在一起。所以，我學著充分利用我們在一起的時間。這是我能做的最大限度，而事實表明，沒有什么比和他們一起玩耍更能了解他們的方式了。

Plato himself said, "You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."

柏拉圖自己也說，"相比交流一整年，一小時的玩耍更能讓你了解一個人。"

Play is magical. It really is, and at any age. It's true that children use play as their primary and most productive mode of learning, growth, and understanding of how the world works - and adults don't exactly have that luxury. But cutting loose is still vital for us, if in different ways. For example, playfulness increases creativity, problem solving, memory, ingenuity and invention, all while enhancing social, emotional and communication skills. Plus, it makes us happier and healthier human beings. Whatever age or stage we are at in life, it's important that we make time to feed our very hungry, playful spirits - both individually and as a family.

玩耍非常神奇。無論你年紀多大，這句話都很適用。事實上，玩耍是孩子學習、成長、理解世界如何運作的主要的、最有成效的方式--而成年人卻無法奢侈的玩耍。但如果以其他不同的方式，放松對我們仍舊至關重要。例如，玩耍能提高創造力、解決問題的能力、記憶力、獨創性和發明性，同時還能增強我們的社交、情感和溝通能力。此外，玩耍還能讓我們更快樂、更健康。不管我們現在處于人生的哪個階段，也不管我們多少歲，利用時間填補自己的玩耍精神還是很重要的--包括獨自玩耍以及和家人一起玩耍。

Families are the busiest they've ever been. According to a Pew Research Center report, nearly half of all two-parent families have two partners who work full time, a sharp increase from previous decades. With schedules often bursting at the seams between work, school, appointments, and extracurricular activities, it's no surprise that more than half of all working parents say this balancing act is difficult. And all work and no fun makes for some dull parenting.

現在，每個家庭都是最忙的時候。據皮尤研究中心報道，在雙親家庭中，近半數父母都有全職工作，與前幾十年相比，這一數量急劇增加。他們每天都在工作、學校、預約和課外活動間奔走，難怪多半以上有全職工作的父母會說想要取得平衡真是件難事。由于這些家長只有工作而沒有樂趣，所以他們的教育方式也很無趣。

If you never quite know what to do with stuffed animals, or you feel like every stack of construction paper is just another project, all is not lost. You can connect with your kids and find fun doing it. It just takes a little time, and maybe not doing arts and crafts if that stresses you out.

如果你不太了解怎么搞填充動物，或者覺得每一疊建筑圖紙只是另一個項目，那就還有一線希望。你可以了解自己的孩子，和他們一起找尋樂趣。這只需要一小會兒，如果壓力很大的話，可以不用選擇做藝術品或手工藝品。

I'm a businesswoman, a wife, and a mom of two boys, and time is at a premium for me. It can feel nearly impossible to fit in frequent, uninterrupted family time, so I've learned to embrace making the most of the time we do have together. It's the best I can do, and it's been proven that there's no better way to bond than through play.

我是位女商人、一位妻子，也是兩個男孩兒的媽媽，對我來說，時間非常重要。我幾乎不可能經常和家人不受外界的打擾呆在一起。所以，我學著充分利用我們在一起的時間。這是我能做的最大限度，而事實表明，沒有什么比和他們一起玩耍更能了解他們的方式了。

Plato himself said, "You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."

柏拉圖自己也說，"相比交流一整年，一小時的玩耍更能讓你了解一個人。"

Play is magical. It really is, and at any age. It's true that children use play as their primary and most productive mode of learning, growth, and understanding of how the world works - and adults don't exactly have that luxury. But cutting loose is still vital for us, if in different ways. For example, playfulness increases creativity, problem solving, memory, ingenuity and invention, all while enhancing social, emotional and communication skills. Plus, it makes us happier and healthier human beings. Whatever age or stage we are at in life, it's important that we make time to feed our very hungry, playful spirits - both individually and as a family.

玩耍非常神奇。無論你年紀多大，這句話都很適用。事實上，玩耍是孩子學習、成長、理解世界如何運作的主要的、最有成效的方式--而成年人卻無法奢侈的玩耍。但如果以其他不同的方式，放松對我們仍舊至關重要。例如，玩耍能提高創造力、解決問題的能力、記憶力、獨創性和發明性，同時還能增強我們的社交、情感和溝通能力。此外，玩耍還能讓我們更快樂、更健康。不管我們現在處于人生的哪個階段，也不管我們多少歲，利用時間填補自己的玩耍精神還是很重要的--包括獨自玩耍以及和家人一起玩耍。