I had coffee with two fellow career counselors. In the course of conversation, I said, "Let's each take one minute to tell each other the things we most enjoyed doing when we were children."
I said:
-- Looking out the window hoping it will continue snowing so school will be closed the next day.
-- Lying on the grass, watching the clouds move.
-- Practicing basketball by myself, learning to dribble as well with my right hand as with my left.
You know, although I haven't done those things in almost 50 years, I think I'd still enjoy doing them. Maybe I'll do them.
What did you most enjoy as a child? Would you like to do them again now?
-reading the encyclopedia. I had a child's set at 8 and a 20-year-old World Book set at 9.
ReplyDelete-pretending I could control the wind.
-playing astronaut in this big orange-brown chair in the living room.
-spinning in circles.
-making crank calls to the phone operator.
-pretending to drive in an old car in my cousin's backyard.
-being a church usher. I felt like I had responsibility.
-riding my bike. I learned late (age 8), but once I did, I was never at home. I taught myself how to ride, too, and was really proud of that.
-catching salamanders and butterflies.
-walking around the block by myself, pretending I was grown up.
-climbing on all the things packed in my overstuffed garage, pretending I was climbing a mountain.
-crawling under the bed.
-making cakes with my grandmother.
-looking out my bedroom window, waiting for my mother to come home from work.
-the last day of school.
-the State Fair.
-eating McDonald's on the rare days my mother forgot to make my lunch. I was the most popular kid in class on those days.
-Christmas trees and lights.
-4th of July fireworks. Especially the cheap ones you get at a fireworks stand.
-saying 4-letter words when adults weren't around.
-singing along with the radio.
-pizza nights.
-Hot Wheels cars.
-Barbie dolls.
-imaginary friends.
-the days I had no homework, or could finish the homework before I got home.
-Paul Harvey's "The Rest Of The Story." Whenever my mother was driving us kids home listening to news radio, this is the one thing I paid attention to. I thought the stories were fantastic, but could never guess the subject before the end.
-jumping up and down on the bed and couch. I especially liked it if I could execute a flip.
-cartwheels.
-plain ol' make-believe.
I used to love art class when I was in elementary school, though I had no real talent for it. Recently I figured that the cheapest way to get some art in my bathroom was to paint it myself, and I spent 3 hours painting in complete concentration. It was wonderful- productive, relaxing and just fun.
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