For me, play was fun! My sister was born when I was 4 years old. So, until then, I had a range of toys to myself without having to share with anyone. I played with my barbies and dolls by myself for hours. My mom used to put music on for me and leave me in the family room for hours, just playing alone. She would occasionally check on me, but otherwise, I was completely happy being alone.
Play then in 1988 vs play today in 2020 is significantly different. Back then, we didn't have technology to keep us occupied. We had crayons and markers and dolls and Legos and sticks and mud. We were able to use our imagination to play outside and not have to worry about the big, scary world. Where I live is not a bad place, but I don't feel comfortable leaving my children outside by themselves to play. My mom would send us outside in the morning and we knew to come home at dinner time. Children can't play like that anymore. It is sad, quite frankly. Children don't get the chance to play freely anymore. They are constantly on the go, because of their parents jobs. Just speaking from experience, my son is at school with me all day. 9-10 hours daily. We get home and I rush to make dinner and pack lunches and the kids need their own down time to come down from the events of the day. I usually end up letting my daughter veg in front of the television for a while because she has been busy and virtual school is hard. And my son wants to do everything that his big sister does, so they usually end up together on the couch. Sometimes cars and trucks and dolls are involved. But, I'll be honest, I am just too tired to play with them sometimes. And then I feel guilty, and it becomes a downward spiral. At the end of the day, I know that they have played at school and it is okay for them to have an evening off.
For adults, play can be anything that is distracting from reality. I think most adults struggle to play and be mindless because we have lost our imaginations. Unless we are engaged with children on a regular basis, or are parents ourselves, our imaginations only take us so far. Until we remember what it is like to just sit and color or build a tower with blocks, our imaginations won't take us very far.
Leanne,
ReplyDeleteYou have a great story about your childhood play. Thank you for sharing. I remember those days very well. We played outside from dawn to dusk. We went from house to house playing with friends, and the neighborhood moms feed us, disciplined us, and cared for our boo boos. Our moms would bring out water or Kool-aid and a snack. The doors were always unlocked and we played in dirt, made mud pies, used rocks for cooking with, counting, throwing, and pretend money. I do not think that we will ever go back to the back basic days of play.
Cynthia
Leanne,
ReplyDeleteI loved how we played and had such vivid imaginations when we were kids. I remember being punished and sent to my room, that I shared with my brother. We had a sheet set with small squares and we would play pac man on the sheets or we would find something in the room to reflect the sun and play cat and mouse on the ceiling. Mom thought we were sad and bored but we conjured up so many games and activities.
Susaye
Hi Leanne,
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading your blog, you reminded me of my sister. she is 2 years elder to me, most of the time she used to play with her dolls, whereas I never played with dolls or Barbie. My mother used to stitch clothes for my sister's dolls.
Tasneem
Hi Leanne, thank you so mcuh for sharing. I adore the qoutes that you used. I agree that now adays especially now with the pandemic at hand it is hard for children to get out and play in nature on their own or with a group of friends. There is so much at stake and fear to be had. Also with the pandemic going on comes alot of dependence on the use of technology which also isn't helpful for children's imagination to grow. It's extremely hard to find a balance with thecnology play and the type of play where you have to use your own creativity and come up with your own rules and fantasy world. It is especially hard like you mention when we are all constantly on the move and trying to get various tasks completed in a timely manor.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I just love how I have two of the same pictures that you have. The poppel and the cabbage patch kid. We really did have an enjoyable childhood. Children now a days are so into teachnology which is okay to certain degree. They truly do not know how to play. For most children if you did put them outside, they wouldn't know what to do.I also like the last quote.
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