How Do You Play?

Play takes on many forms during our lifetime. When we're growing up we were probably played with instead of playing. Babies are such fun to play with and the interaction is a vital part of their learning process. We enter the toddler phase and we begin to play by ourselves and with our parents and others close to us, there's probably still more adult interaction than kid-to-kid until we enter the preschool years wherein we learn to play with others. Our play time goes from all day long play to recess when we enter school unless you're the class clown that is. We grow and grow and maybe we decide to play sports or play an instrument but we're still active as long as we don't spend all our free time in front of the television playing video games. It seems our teenage and college play turn to what we view as more sophisticated and it's called partying. We get older and have kids and we play with them and the cycle continues.

I remember playing with other kids when I was still in the single digits fondly. Playing freeze tag in the backyard, riding bikes down a dead-end side street, sledding down one of the steepest hills when it snowed, hide-and-seek, pickle, baseball, football...goodness how we played and played and played. It was a great time to be a kid. We weren't as concerned with 'stranger danger' maybe because it was a small town or maybe because people just didn't do those things to kids as much as they do now. Anyway...

I have entered the very best phase of playtime. It's called being a grandmother and I love it. I am one of the lucky ones who get to spend every weekday with my granddaughter and we spend hours playing.

We play with stuffed animals, puzzles, blocks, balls, toys, and we read books. We play peek-a-boo and chase. We sing and play the xylophone. We play Baby M climbs on everything while Grandma has a heart attack. We play in the baby pool and we play with bubbles. We play reorganize Grandma's kitchen cabinets. We play and play and play all day long. And it's fun!

This weekend (yesterday) Baby M had her first birthday (y'all can see the video HERE). I can't believe how quickly the year flew by. I'm just so grateful to live close enough to take care of her while her parents work. Because playtime is just the best when you're a grandmother.

This post is linked to Five Minute Friday where we write for five minutes about the prompt without stopping. Well, not really linked. I'm leaving the link for y'all in case you want to head over there and join in the party. But I'm just writing because I can't seem to stop after 5 minutes and no one really comes over to read here. I am not complaining at all. It's a fun idea and I love trying to write something about the prompts. I also like trying to stop at 5 minutes but I can't. Yes, I write like I talk. Ha!

The prompt this week is PLAY. And below is the button/link:

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