When did you forget to play?

Play - a word that you associate with children, not usually for adults. But why not? In every one of us there is an inner child that still gets excited when it starts snowing, or about the joys of Christmas. Do we really forget about all this when we become an adult?

I still don't really feel like an adult, I hit 30 last year and it was the worst birthday ever. I had a nice day, but I just didn't want to be 30. I kept thinking, now I have to act like a grown-up :o( It may be because I still have young siblings, the youngest being 12 this November, so I don't feel old enough to be an adult at all. I still get caught out when I hear a mother say 'mind that lady!' when their child accidentally walks in to me, or when someone calls me Mrs Whorlow - and I think they're talking about my mother-in-law :o)

I was a serious child, I took things to heart and too seriously. I was the eldest child, the responsible and conscientious one (hated that word, had it in every report I remember!). I was the one that the younger ones could look up to and follow examples led by me. If I wanted to do something silly, I was told to 'grow up and act your age'. This resulted in me being very shy, and I felt that I could never really be 'me' with anyone, not even my family. So instead I buried my nose into books, escaping to worlds where I could just be a child.

When my husband first suggested about building a sandcastle on the beach, I thought 'What if someone I know sees us?' which was really stupid. I quickly realised that finally I was being allowed to play and do daft things, and not care whether people thought I was too old for it or not. Because at the end of the day, it is good to have fun and to laugh in life. So the two of us every year when we go down to Cornwall, we build a big sandcastle on the beach, with a moat or two around it and then stand on top as the tide comes in, and the aim is to stay on for as long as possible until you get washed off, or the castle collapses. The great thing about this is that everytime we have done this, someone else has copied us. The first time, a group of children kept watching us, bemused - and then started to build their own, until we eventually had a competition going between us to see who could stay on the longest! Isn't it great to have that influence on kids - so that they too start to use their imagination to have fun?

The second time we did it, we saw another group of adults on the beach doing their own version - which was really great to see! So what if people think you're mad! I say 'It is better to be mad and happy than sane and boring!' :o) It doesn't matter whether you are 30 or going on 50, everyone should be able to have fun once in a while, I'm not saying that I don't have serious moments, I still have bills to sort out each month and debts to pay, but the trick is to keep the balance right, to mix fun into your life. Another saying of mine 'The less you play as you get older, the more wrinkles you get.' Did you know that it takes less facial muscles to smile than it does to frown? Did you know that on average an adult only smiles about 17 times a day, whereas a child smiles over a 100 times? Grow old gracefully and with less wrinkles and smile more whilst having fun :o) Don't become a BOF! (Boring Old Fart!) Unleash your inner child and start playing today!! :D

If you really feel you don't know where to start in order to have more fun in your life by playing more, here are some suggestions to get you started:

As we're approaching Autumn - go out for a country walk and 'crunch' all the dry leaves or splash in the puddles (splash your partner for even more fun and laughter!)

Build a sandcastle - or a snowman (depending on the weather)

Put on your favourite music and sing and dance to your hearts content! (no one's watching you so go for it!)

Go out and play frisbee in the park - or even better, go feed the ducks!
(We took my mother-in-law to Henley-on-Thames for the day this summer for a nice walk, and she was really surprised when I handed her a bag of bread to feed the ducks with - she said she hadn't done that in over 20 years!!! AND she had a great time :D Think of the hungry ducks this winter :o))

Go to a funfair and spend time on the dodgems! Great fun!! :D

Ok, now it's your turn to think of some of your own, or to start on these!


One thing that my mother said to me this summer, that was the best thing she could have said this year, when we told her about us building our sandcastle; 'You two are definately ready to have children!' I took that as a compliment, what do you think? :o)