If we ask parents who have kids that are adults now, “how fast did the 1st 2 decades of their life go?” I’m sure you can imagine their answers. Our children are short for what seems like a blink of an eye! This time is a shortage, especially with our attention easily filled now more than ever. Our short ones bond through play and connection. If they don’t bond with us parents, they will with something or someone else. I heard this once and it stuck with me: When kids stop playing with parents, they start listening to someone else. It seemed to be true when I looked, so I had to stop looking. They bond through play MUCH MORE than they do with just time together. Luckily that helps because the right kind of play takes less time than just being around. And we’re learning more and more lately that what we think is dangerous for kids is less dangerous than weak bonds! So while we have a shortage of time with our short people, at least it only takes a minute or two, here and there, to play in powerful ways that build love, trust, self-control, and even some sneaky self-protection skills! I hope to bring parents and their kids closer than they already are and for siblings to be as tight as I am with my 4!

It’s the end of June of 2026 and we finally put together our first course to share! It’s about how to enjoy some of the incredible experiences we get to have every day at our academy, at home. The best part of my career has been the hundreds of incredible bonds that have been built with this kind of play and encouragement that we specialize in! Being busy teaching all the time, it was challenging to find time to focus on how to share this when it’s not in person. But here it is! I recently adjusted my schedule so that I only teach a few hours an evening (over 40,000 classes taught over 32 years has started to slow me down a little bit) but that means I will have time to be a part of this community and hopefully be of help where I can! If you, or someone you know, feels like time with their kids is slipping by at insane speeds, this course will give you magically powerful moments with them that they’ll cherish forever! No need to have any prior knowledge or skills and only a couple of minutes is needed to play, here and there. I can’t wait to meet some new friends and hear that they enjoy every second of this crazy stuff! Respectfully yours, Derrick Maretti :)