Learning to Play

When I was a kid, I didn't play... or at least I don't remember playing a lot.
I remember spending a lot of time in my room reading - pretty much anything really.

I do remember pulling my cousin's front teeth out while playing "fishing" and I do remember crawling under our trailer and hiding my Little People on the bracing so I wouldn't have to share with my sibs. I remember playing school with my sibs. I was the teacher, and I would get upset when they wouldn't mind.

I did like playing on the swing, but we never really lived close enough to play on one. I never did well on roller skates or bikes - no sense of balance, and a perpetual fear of falling kind of forced me to keep my feet on the ground.

So, learning to play has been a real challenge for me.

I used to think that "play" would be something like watching TV and knitting. That is enjoyable, but it isn't really play. I play video games with my kid, but that is... challenging... at the best of times. He likes fast action shoot'em ups, and I get motion sick. I like puzzle games, and he gets frustrated. So, we compromise with board games, and that is OK... but I can feel that inner-six-year-old's frustration. I know she wants to PLAY... she wants to play and laugh like my kid used to when he was little... that slightly maniacal laughter that always tipped the grownups off that something was usually going to go badly in about 2.5 seconds.

So, tonight I made peanut butter play dough... and made faces on my dining room table... and ate them *nom nom nom* ^_^!!

Not quite maniacal laughter inducing, but was pretty close when the cat got it in his fur.

This term coming up promises to be challenging. Defending a thesis that just doesn't seem to be coming together. Graduating. Trying to find a job. Divorce. Teaching. Moving. Yeah... that about covers it. I'm not sure how to schedule time to play into that mess. The Artist's Way and The Happiness Project both recommend scheduling it into your week by making a date with yourself. I haven't been on very many dates, so that in itself is a challenge for me, but I think I will try to use my Wednesday evenings to schedule something new. It doesn't have to be fun, just... new. On my current budget, it will also have to be free LOL! That is OK though. Builds character and self reliance that way!

Gotta go! Grading waits for no one!!