I must tell you that I witnessed the most interesting phenomenon here on Friday evening. And I think it's not stretching it at all to say I've not seen it happen here for the better part of 20 years. The kids and I spent an evening at home entertaining ourselves without using ONE piece of technology~we played board games....yes, you heard that right~We played board games! And as we were reminded by Ursela shortly after the games were through, not one person fought with another one. Talk about miracles... :) No computers, no cell phones, no TV, no interruptions. Friends, I say to you it was like Heaven.
You know, I came from a time of being a kid when you were dang lucky to have a TV (and even luckier if it was in color). We got 3 channels, kind of, and when the reception was bad, we learned how to put a bit of tin foil on the ends of the rabbit ears to help bring in a better picture. Already my young Facebook friends reading this are sitting there in wonder...Like, "I wonder what in the heck she is talking about, tin foil and rabbit ears?" So kids that are confused, please just ask your grandparents or another adult. LOL
We had to learn to make up our own ways of having fun and when there are 7 kids involved, well that can get pretty interesting. I wonder sometimes how many of today's kids have ever learned to make mudpies and set them out to dry on a hot and sunny Kansas-in the summer afternoon? Do they know what it's like to pretend to play "house" without the latest "dream home" from Wal Mart? Have their moms ever given them a brown paper bag cut down the middle to draw on? Yeah, I know...I've already entered "old geezerdom" but I think about it a lot, especially as a teacher who sees hundreds of kids at school each day.
As a kid growing up in the 60's and 70's, my folks would have said we were crazy to have even thought of a time in the future when every kid in the whole United States of America would carry a cell phone in their pocket all the time. And a computer, even more than one at home, forget it! It was never going to happen. We were happy with what we had because the bottom line was, we didn't know any better. What we had was good enough for us and most of the time we were very grateful for it.
I looked at the weekend ads in the newspaper for all of the Christmas gift ideas that are for sale this year. I'm sure that little kids also looked at them and made their lists out to give to Santa. Chances are good that many of them will get just what they ask for. You know, I can't blame them, having been a kid once myself, believe it or not! The bright colors, the super heroes on the label, the sounds they make, the extraordinary things they do...who wouldn't like them? But as I looked, I realized there was one thing kind of missing~the ability of a child to use their imagination. So very much of what was offered was driven by technology.
Please, let me be the first to say, I love technology.....I don't really want to live in a world without it. But even having said that, friends I miss the "old days" when people sat around a table and played games like Monopoly or Rook, when parents and their kids actually sat down and interacted with one another. No cell phones or emails to distract anyone, nothing to take anyone away from the opportunity at hand....having fun with their family.
When my 3 children were growing up, the use of technology by the general public was coming into age. None of my kids ever remember growing up without a computer at home. For most of their lives, all they remember was our having a cell phone. Each one of them had their own tv and by the time they were in grade school, all 3 had their own computers. If there was anything related to technology that we could afford to give them then they got it, either for birthdays or Christmas or sometimes just because.
So when they sat down at the table of Friday evening and pulled out a board game to play, I was really surprised. We cleared off the dining room table, turned off the music and tv, shut down our laptops, and the only sound to be heard were the voices of Wade, Ursela and Grahame as they began the game. Oh and another strange thing happened.
I was getting ready to wash up our supper dishes and I told them to have fun and I'd listen to them from the kitchen. I'll never forget the look on Ursela's face when she heard that. With the almost saddest of eyes she said, "Mom, aren't you going to play with us?" So, you've heard the saying that "dishes can wait"? Well, not only CAN they wait, they DID.
That proverbial "thump on the head" came from God at just the right time and place. For all of the times that I'm sure it seemed that I was much too busy doing other things during the kids' growing up years, I finally figured out that if it comes down to doing my housework or playing with my kids (no matter what their age) that I'm choosing the latter. And guys, let me tell you, it was the best 2 hours I've spent in a long, long time.
Getting ready to head out the door soon to start my day. I'll drive to school listening to my Fleetwood Mac CD and swipe my key card across the scanning device at school. I'll "fire up" my laptop to get into my school email. By the time 8:00 rolls around, the world of technology will be wrapped completely around me. But I will always give thanks to God for that brief moment in time on Friday evening when 4 people sat around an old dining room table and had the best time just being with one another. May you also, my dear friends, enjoy the same feeling as we did. Take care of yourselves this day-so very thankful for the influence each of you have upon me.
My 3 blessings in life....Ricky Miller, Ursela Hemman, Grahame Hemman...they used to be so little...now, well, you know~
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