FROM Wii to WE

Many of you have heard of all the drama that I recently went through trying to find a simple pack of old-fashioned marbles for a Science project that my daughter Bree had to do. The project was to create a roller coaster with a loop and a hill and then make sure that the marble traveled through the entire coaster, loop, hill and all. After getting the materials I searched high and low, from store to store looking for the marbles that I used to play with when I was a little girl. Family Dollar – nope, Dollar Tree – nope, Walmart – nope, another Family Dollar, another Dollar Tree, CVS and Walgreen – I came up with a nope on all accounts. A simple pack of marbles. Everyone wanted to tell me that the “craft marbles” would serve the purpose, and yes, maybe they would but that’s not what I wanted. I wanted the colored marbles that came with a chunky and a cat eye. Had I become so obsessed with finding these marbles – maybe, but the revelation received will far surpass the obsession. I continued my search and ended up finding a pack at a store in the “hood” – thank God for the hood – that’s where you have to keep it real! Please don’t mistake the hood for the ghetto; there is a difference. The hood is where you don’t rush to remove life for “something better.” It’s where you go when you want to remember from where we came. The hood is where our people were able to be themselves. It’s where we can sit on the porch sipping sweet tea or something stronger, play spades, listen to “real” music and wave when friends or strangers passed by.

This experience of not being able to find the marbles that I used to play with taught me a valuable lesson; it taught me that we have become so far removed from things that were simple. We've been so busy "moving on up" like George Jefferson that we've forgotten to take with us the simple things in life. Gone are the days of playing marbles, jacks, hop scotch and jump rope. These were inexpensive games that required concentration; games that became the backbone of many life lessons learned. Marbles were like shoes, every child had their own. When you came with a challenge you’d better be ready to lose your stash. I remember I had a plastic tub full of marbles and for me to lose meant either you had to be good or I was having a bad day. The game taught you how to focus on your mark and it also taught you how to have a steady hand; hmmm what a wonderful, simple way for the makings of a good surgeon yet it was also an example of life because it taught you that there is a risk because your opponent is there to take everything. As for jacks – jacks taught us concentration, hand-eye coordination and how to count. It was a basic game of throwing a small ball in the air and picking up jacks from one to whatever number you were on and then catching the ball after one bounce. Later you added in creativity – throw the ball in the air, pick up the jacks, tap, and then catch the ball after one bounce. Gosh I was good at that game too. The value of jacks is to teach us that you have to keep your eye on the ball and that even though you sometimes find yourself juggling it doesn’t mean that your dreams can’t be caught. Hop scotch. I sometimes still see the markings of this game from time to time; it’s good to know that kids are still enjoying it and that it’s still around. The greatest lesson taught in this game was to focus on throwing the rock or object into a square, jump to it and pick it up all while balancing on one leg – this game taught children how to balance and how to stay within the square. Maybe if we spent more time playing this game we would be able to teach them the concepts needed to balance the many things they would go through in life. And finally there’s jump rope – really there’s no need to explain the value of jump rope; what child doesn’t need the exercise that comes with increasing your heart rate. Jump rope also brought out our creative side through twist jumping and double dutch. In jump rope we learn how to jump through the hoops thrown at us in this fast paced life that we’ve created for ourselves.

Simple games…valuable lessons…What I learned this week was that all of these games held great lessons that I believe contributed to what have helped elevate the intelligence of my generation. It was also this eye-opener that made me realize how important it is to take a step back into time and show my children what simple fun is like. This may be just what Shay needs to teach her how to focus in school and it may be what Bree needs to help her understand that the simple things in life are sometimes the most enjoyable. What I learned by searching from store to store is a lesson that we all need to learn; the lesson of spending time with each other. Wii is fun, but WE is better. It is WE that brings out the bond in a family; that’s my lesson. TGBTG

~Stay Prayed Up!! CLICK ON THE LINK