[Seek] Fun

We spend so much of our time doing things we need to do. We go to work, pay bills, cook, clean, and so forth. We help friends, do things at church, volunteer. But how often do we have fun...the kind of fun that elevates your spirit?

I love unschooling our children. It gives us the freedom to have fun. My children play outside, play board and card games, play video games. They create art, practice special effects makeup, watch movies, read books. They dream up games, talk animatedly about strategy, bake brownies or cupcakes just because. We go hiking; to museums, science centers, aquariums, and historical sites; to the movies, bowling, to laser tag. They hang out with friends, often convincing me to bring them one place or another.

But one thing I realized, thinking back over the past year, is that I don't take nearly enough time out of what I'm doing to truly have fun. I do things I enjoy, that are fulfilling ... but not laugh out loud, I'm having a great time fun. Sometimes my body isn't up to doing much of anything, but I do have fun playing card games and board games. We've decided as a family that we're going to do more of that. UNO Flip and Exploding Kittens seem to be the games of choice lately. 

Recently we were playing cards at someone else's house, and the sighing, complaining, bickering, and accusations flying back and forth between two players made me not want to play. It wasn't fun. If the children had acted like those two adults acted, the same adults would have admonished them for their behavior. It's just a game. We're supposed to be having fun here! The fun is in the playing - while winning is nice, it's not as fun as having a good time with friends and family.

This year, I'm going to seek fun. I'm going to take breaks from my to do list to accept invitations to play; to read; to curl up with a child or three and a bowl of popcorn and watch funny things.