Over the holidays, I was reminded how we as adults tend to lose our imagination. That lesson didn’t come from the holidays themselves, rather it came from an errand that forced Mr. Carter into boredom.
My 10-year-old’s current obsession is Sonic the Hedgehog. And good timing on his part since the latest movie in the Sonic series came out in December, we attended the Sonic Symphony over New Year’s weekend and the new movie was recently made available to streaming services. Needless to say, most of his Christmas involved Sonic toys. I’m not exaggerating about this being an obsession.
One day, I had a task to complete and needed my son to sit still and occupy himself for about 20 minutes. Frowning, he asked what he could do and I responded, “Be patient.” I proceeded with my project, only to be distracted a few minutes later by how he decided to use this time. He assembled an action scene from a Sonic toy in his pocket and a cat tower in the corner. He was lost in the made-up dialogue of a battle between his toy and some item swinging from the carpeted structure. Apparently whatever bad guy was on this makeshift building would soon have his efforts thwarted by the heroic hedgehog.
I just stared at his play, remembering how I once got lost in make-believe. My next-door neighbor, Katie, and I would prop album covers against each other to make our own Barbie Dream House since we lacked the actual store-bought structure. We’d add furniture and the dolls, and spend hours immersed in the drama of what we thought adult life would be like.
As I watched my son, I tried to remember the last time I created such a world for myself. As an adult, I’ve often relied on others to make up stories for me to follow, whether in books or on television. I had to go pretty far back to times with my neighborhood friends where I made stuff up out of thin air.
My best friend, Tracyann, and I would drag her twin brother along on our bicycle-fueled adventures around the neighborhood that included remakes of 70s television shows like “CHiPs” or “Dukes of Hazard.” When alone, I would recreate heroic scenes from the Winter Olympics in the snowy yard as my dog, Polly, cheered me on. At least that’s what I assumed she was doing.
Before I turned away from my son and back to my task I asked myself, How did I get so boring?
No wonder we get stressed out and disillusioned as adults when you consider how much play time we actually get. It usually only happens when we’re around children, and I have to thank my son for this awareness. I also understand that it was because of boredom, and not screens, that he was able to glide right into this natural state of play. We big kids could take a lesson from that, too.
