Child's Play

Last week I heard a radio-story that children are losing their ability to imagine because so many toys today are designed to limit creativity. The latest Batman toy has all the bells and whistles that that you turn on and it preforms for you. Gone are the days of rolling a wire hoop down the street--Ok so those days were gone before I was born but still.
I remember when I was about 9 years old our TV went out for one or two weeks. At first we were really bummed--and we only had three channels when the weather was good, too. But my older brother Rick made up a bunch of games for me and little brother to play. Rick was always really good at making the best of bad situations. We were so glad when the TV came back but 30 years later I remember how much fun we had making stuff up.
Today I was at the mall having lunch before going on to work. There were three under 3's finishing up their food. While their moms were still eating they decided to make a game out of running back and forth about 5 feet between my cafe table and Arby's counter. It was fun to see their fun and giggles. Their mom looked at me and said "to think we spend so much money on expensive toys." And she is right, really expensive toys and gadgets really take the fun out fun.
One of the most joy filled days I have ever had involved an empty train station and a set of bouncy balls. When I lived in Hamada, Japan, my friends J & K and I decided to spend a Sunday afternoon at the beach. Instead of going to my normal beach which required scooters that they did not have, we took the train to one further afield. The weather ended up turning on us so we had to make a mad dash back to the little one room train station. The next train back to Hamada wasn't scheduled to return for another 2 hours. Of all things, J just happened to have a pocket full of bouncy balls. This just goes to show you that you never know what a guy in his twenties might have in his pocket. We spent the next two hours ricocheting balls around the train station. I think we might have also frightened off an oobaa-san (grandmother)--those crazy foreigners you know. But of all the truly amazing adventures I have had in my adult life, that rainy afternoon bouncing balls in a train station still ranks among the best.
Money really doesn't buy happiness. Using your imagination does. And we are doing our kids a dis-service by taking that away. Yes, I know the person who has taken her genes out of the pool probably shouldn't be dispense parenting advice but what the Hell. I just did. Take it as you may.