The Importance of Play

Although this is not one of my February new month resolutions, I have been thinking that I need to be a little more judicious with the ways in which I waste my time. For example, if I am going to prevent myself from getting ahead at my job because I'm too busy whiling away the hours on the Interwebs, at the very least I should be broadening my horizons, instead of visiting the same four bus stops over and over and over.

Also, because you know I am all about the back story, I should mention that I am particularly drawn to stories about brain science. Fascinating! Did anyone read that story in the New Yorker last year about the "eureka" moment, and how it often happens after you have backed off from trying to puzzle out an answer? (This happened to me the other day, when for no good reason I was trying to recall the name of this cute little town in southern Minnesota where Jim and I had gone to ride bikes and go tubing and read old magazines in the attic room of the sort of charmingly cheesy bed and breakfast one might expect to encounter in southern Minnesota, and I could not remember the name for the life of me, and three hours later, when I was washing someone's compartmentalized dinner plate, it hit me- Lanesboro!) Or the one in the free magazine you get for joining a science museum, about "mirroring" behavior? I wish I could find that magazine. Anyway...

This morning I was late to work because I thought I was going to have to work from home in the morning, because of a snow-related school delay, and just as I drove into the parking ramp, the mid-morning radio show had started. Someone named Jonah Lehrer was the guest, and he was talking about his new book about what happens in our brains when we make a decision, something like that. I didn't hear much of it, but I did hear that he has a blog and also writes for the brain-related arm (what now?) of the online Scientific American magazine. So when I got to work, I branched out a bit and looked up these two sites. Neato!

I have probably written here before about relishing articles that talk about the importance of imaginative free-play, since they are the most affirming thing in the world for lazy parents like myself. I found another one while poking around the Scientific American site: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-serious-need-for-play
I love how one of the experiments gave kids things like three paper clips and a pile of paper towels. If I didn't think Muriel would immediately ingest one of the paper clips, my kids would be performing that experiment tomorrow.

Because I am a little woozy and too lazy to just read what I have already written to see if I might be making the points I think I am making, I am just going to state my points here and now:

Point 1: Please send me any websites you enjoy, preferably with content that will not get me busted at work (one of the mag's blog entries discussed research about homophobic straight men and their response to gay porn; clinical tone aside, there were some danger words on that page!). I need to branch out a bit from Slate, Cuteoverload, CNN, and the occasional foray into Television Without Pity.

Point 2: How do adults participate in imaginative free play? No, for real? I couldn't even imagine myself experiencing any kind of play, but that Lanesboro trip, with the cycling and the tubing and the leisurely strolling, that was some awesome grown up play. I don't think it was imaginative free play, though...

I'm going to have to keep thinking about that one. In the meantime, Happy Monday.