You’ve heard the standard advice every June 1st: clear your schedule and take your kid out to play. But let’s flip it. What if, just for one day, your child calls the shots? You follow their lead—where to go, what to do, when to stop.
Before you dismiss the idea, look at one number. An adult laughs about 15 times a day. A child? According to a National Institutes of Health study, 300 to 400. That’s 20 times more. If you simply do what your kid does, you’d laugh 20 times more today. Not bad for a holiday experiment.
Research from Penn State in 2024 found that adults laugh less because of something called “occasion awareness”—the fear of laughing at the wrong time or place. Kids haven’t been trained to manage their laughter yet. They laugh at a beetle, a stumble, the same joke for the fourth time. Not because they’re happier, but because their laughter hasn’t been burdened by judgment. The lesson? Lower your laugh threshold. Let yourself find things funny without asking if they’re “worth it.”
Second, borrow their curiosity. A child asks dozens of “why” questions every day. Adults, especially busy ones, rarely ask questions after work. We assume we already know. But curiosity is the engine of real growth. Watch your child examine a leaf or a puddle. They’re not “learning” in the academic sense—they’re staying open. Try that for one day. Ask more questions than you answer.
Third, learn their ability to be fully present. Watch a kid playing with a cardboard box—they disappear into that moment. No phone, no worry about the next meeting. Adults multitask constantly, but research consistently shows that single-tasking boosts both happiness and effectiveness. Let your child decide the pace. Don’t rush to the next “worthwhile” activity. Let the moment stretch.
This Children’s Day, don’t just entertain your child—follow them. Let them teach you to laugh without permission, to wonder without agenda, to stay in the now. That’s the real gift, and it doesn’t have to end on June 1st. Turn it into a practice. That’s what knowing and doing as one really means.