“I’ve got work to do.”
“Not right now kids! It’s grown-up time”
“Could you guys just settle down and stop acting so silly!”
Do these sound familiar at all? I don’t have children but I have heard these statements said plenty of times when in the company of my friends and their kids. And I get it. As adults, we often have children and now need to move into this “responsible parent” role.
Somehow when this happens, many adults forget how to play. They become so focused on taking care of their kids that they deprioritize their own fun and eventually forget how to do it. So how do you know if you’ve fallen trap to this “I forgot how to play” phenomenon? Just answer the following questions honestly…
- Can you describe the last time you just goofed off?
- Could you create a mess from an art project and not immediately clean up after?
- Could you pencil in an hour of play time on your calendar each day?
- Could you easily tell the next person that asks you to do something ‘no’?
- Could you spend $500 by the end of the day on just doing something fun by yourself?
If you said no to any of these questions then there is a strong probability that you have forgotten how to play. If you’re ready to remedy that and start prioritizing play time then I’d suggest doing one of the following:
- Play hookey for a day. Do whatever it is that you want. Don’t justify it to anyone.
- Do an art project with the kids or a friend and just leave the mess after. Don’t worry about cleaning it up, just to revel in the awesome work you did.
- Block off one hour each day to just do something fun. It could be anything from going to the park, learning something new or just listening to your favorite tunes.
- Tell someone no when they ask you to do something boring. And then get really giddy and excited that you told them no cuz you aren’t gonna let the man hold you down.
- Take a decent chunk of cash (no less than $100) and just go do something fun by yourself!
So tell me my dear friends, are you ready to play?
