Tuesday
24Feb2009
Day 9 of 15 Days of Work/Life Balance: Being a Kid Again with Good Old Fashioned Fun
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 12:50PM
Sometimes the most simple of activities can have the most impact.
Case in point:
This past weekend my husband, 3-year old son and I went bowling with my Dad and my younger siblings (all teens). Oh, and it was old school duck pin bowling. You know the type of bowling where instead of the three-holed balls, you use the ones you can hold in your hand.
And get this. The technology for keeping score? So outdated (and the equivalent of those transparency projectors the teachers used back in high school...you know, along with the scantrons) that we were given paper - YES PAPER - score sheets and pencils.
I can't remember the last time I used a pencil.
It was the most fun I think I've had in a long time and brought back childhood memories of going duck pin bowling with my dad and brother (before my younger siblings came along). The bowling shoes we wore were probably at least 20 years old but I didn't care about the thousands of feet that had been in those shoes before me (ew). What I realized, sitting there watching three generations of my family bowl, my 3-year old giggling as the ball he literally threw ricocheted back and forth between the bumpers, was this:
We've become so fascinated with all the new gadgets and gizmos and electronic games and DVR'd shows that we sometimes forget what fun the classic past times can be.
So as I seek balance in my life I'm going to look for it at the duck pin bowling alley, the game of red light green light, kickball, Monopoly, root beer floats, and a canoe on the Chesapeake Bay. And maybe next time I get together with girlfriends we'll play M.A.S.H. or Truth or Dare.
What is your favorite "classic" past time that you still share with your family?
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Reader Comments (4)
We LOVE baseball- watching and going to games. I'm looking forward to the new season as a way to get outside and off the computer for some much needed balance. :)
Just last night we turned the TV off and played a game of I-Spy Bingo with the girls. I want to do that at least one week night and a number of their games can be played in a 1/2 hour. It's a nice ending to the day.
Since I had my baby and we have moved a couple of times we know longer do family night. We use to play board games, watch movies, go bowling, whatever. I really miss doing that and I really enjoyed having time dedicated just to my family.
We usually just spend time together "visiting!" This is something all of my siblings did growing up and it is our default activity whenever we get together now, in whatever numbers we manage to gather. Maybe someone is sulking in a corner reading a book, someone might be trying to nap, someone might be exchanging massages, maybe a couple of people are playing cards while others are chatting, but the television is OFF, and we just enjoy spending time together.