One Little Phrase Broken Down - Part Three: Make Time to Play

The third part of my "One Little Phrase" for 2012 is Make Time to Play. 

Why? I am a worker bee. I never stop. Even when my body stops moving my mind never does. I am happy doing and always have been, even as a child. MTV aired when I was nine; as it grew in popularity I never understood how my friends could sit on the couch and just stare at a glowing box for hours on end. (Sidenote: Chris Van Allsburg's book, The Wretched Stone, is a must read if you want a fun way to help your kids see the value of art, music and story telling vs. looking at "the wretched stone". Don't tell them what the "wretched stone" is though. Let them guess!) I wanted to be doing something active, even if it was mental activity like reading, which it usually was. 

Parts of that are good. I love to learn and grow and create. I get a lot done by most people's standards. But there's a down side. 

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.  ~ Genesis 2:2 

If we are created in His image, and we are, then we are created to rest. To have down time. To play. To sabbath.  I don't do that so well.  There is a time to work and a time to play and for me it's often out of proportion. I want to be intentional this year about playing and having a bit more fun. 

Fun, of course, can and does look different for each of us. Documentaries are fun for me (not scary and/or sad ones though). Sitting in a coffee shop reading a book by myself is fun - wild, hysterical fun depending on the week I have had sometimes! I am letting my inner geek pop out here, aren't I? But I am not (mainly) talking about this kind of fun. 

I want some frivolous fun, too.  I have a precious group of girlfriends with whom I laugh so hard my cheeks almost always hurt after an evening together. We get serious. We get silly. And sometimes we switch back and forth minute by minute. I want need regular time with these girls. They are so life-giving for me. 

I want to have silly fun more often with my boys. Our school days are typically so long; when we are not in school I am trying to clean or cook or plan for more school. We need trips to the park where there is no agenda. No spotting local birds or identifying flowers.  We just need time to sit and run and chase see how high they can swing to discover if their toes really can touch the sky. (A question my Beckett recently asked.) Trips to places they want to go, places I sometimes think are silly and a waste of money. Now I am letting my inner cheapskate show! 

And I want more time with dh. More dates. More time to chat and visit. He truly is my best friend, and I enjoy his company so very much. With our busy schedules and us being such independent people we have to work had to stay connected to each other...and not just talk about what needs to be done or the kids or schooling. We have done better in this area for sure but there is room for growth. 

To make this a reality I am going to need to let some things go. The house may not get picked up one night so we can go see a dollar movie after dinner. School may start late one day so we have a fun breakfast out.  I am okay with that; I really am. I just need to be intentional about setting times to play because it is so not my default and I will pack my days with projects and work and getting it all done. 

I have nothing official I have done towards this goal. I can tell you things I want to do. First I need to make a list of 25 silly things I can do with my boys and put it in my Home Manager Notebook. I can't think of this stuff on the fly (sad, I know). I need to think of some silly things I can do with girlfriends, too. Over the holidays I had a group of girls over to share munchies and watch a Christmas movie. That could be a monthly event possibly. I want to think of things that typically don't involve spending much money (sometimes that's okay) or eating out and high calorie foods. Any ideas you can share with me? I would love some help in this area!