Another 4-Letter Word (Sara)

Like a scene from a horror movie...I'm reading my book at the pool, a shadow suddenly blocks the sun, a drop of water falls on my Kindle, the music from Jaws starts to play in my head, and I hear those 5 dreaded words: "Will you play with me?"

I like to think I'm a fun mom. I dance around when I'm making dinner, I dress up on Halloween, and I take my kids out of school for months to travel to faraway places. So the other day when my kids threw out the unanimous accusation that I don't PLAY with them enough, I was shocked. My first thought was "Are you still talking? I'm trying to read." And then, "Why do you think I had three kids? Go play with each other." But then I noticed the pattern of the lounge chair material permanently imprinted on my leg and gave it some more thought.

The whole point of this trip is for us to experience new things together, to participate in activities that are outside of our comfort zones, and to be present in what we're doing. What am I teaching them if I'm choosing to be present from the sidelines? The memories we're making are just as much about playing in the pool and games of Uno as they are about visiting temples and Buddhas. I want them to be people who DO things, not just observe and take pictures of things, and I want to be one of those people too.

So for the last 2 days, I've said YES to everything. I said YES when Dylan wanted to play hide-and-seek in the pool (think about that for a minute - it's a rectangle), I said YES to going on waterslides over and over at Splash Jungle, I said YES to countless games of Uno and Tenzi. I said YES to  Fusball, and even taught Tyler how to play Blackjack (#lifeskills). I won't pretend I loved every second of it. Most of these things are meant to be enjoyed by kids and I'm not one of them. My game-playing wheelhouse typically involves red Solo cups. But the big picture looks a lot more colorful because I got out there and played my ass off.

I can't promise I'll keep up this pace, and I hope I won't have to once there are other kids around, but I will make an effort to play more. I'll try to say YES more than I say NO. I'll get my hair wet when I'm swimming. I'll order play-doh pizza at the pretend restaurant. I'll act interested and nod my head when Tyler shows me his Minecraft world. But I will NOT get on anything that spins around. That's where I draw the line.