mtsmith
07-05-2005, 12:37 PM
Word Count: 599 Just Imagine
When I married Ginny, I gained a new son, daughter and four grandsons. I
became an instant grandpa. Over the July 4th Holiday, I got to meet my new daughter
and her three boys for the first time.
It took a day for my new grandsons to warm up to me. The first day they stared
at me, perhaps wondering what they were suppose to do with this man, who they were
told is “grandpa.” I waited patiently. I knew boys like to play. They’d come to me in their
own time.
On day two the oldest two were doing summersaults over my lap. The youngest,
Ben, took a little longer, but yesterday he raced me across the yard thirty times and won
every time.
The weekend brought back memories of my own childhood. We had such
imaginations. In our minds, a tree was a tower to spot approaching bad guys, a big rock became a mountain, a fallen log a space ship headed to the stars. We had toys, but we
had to use our imagination, not like the new toys I see my grandkids with. Our toys didn’t
talk, and if they did, you pulled a string to make them work. We had blocks to build,
crayons to create, trucks and cars to push. They were simple toys that required
imagination.
I thought about the toys in my garage, the ones I saved, when my children
outgrew them. They were simple and needed their imagination to work. “Mr. Potato
Head” allowed them to learn parts of the body and giggle at the funny face with an ear
where it’s mouth should have been.
I still have an old plastic phone. It has a dial to turn, a bell that rings when you
push a button, and that’s it. It doesn’t talk, squawk, beep or move around the room. It’s
simple and was used when they played house, nurse, doctor, and secretary.
I have a toy doctor’s bag, with all the plastic doctor’s tools. I remember the
broken bones, cuts, bangs, scratches and aches my daughter repaired, as I lay in her office
moaning.
Most toys today do it all. We don’t need imagination; it comes in a box: video
games that take us into another world or reality, talking toys, with vocabularies better
than most people; computerized toys to teach the alphabet. Kids sit and have imagination
brought to them. The teaching toys are great, but children tire of them; it’s like being in school.
When my son was young and tired of his toys, he would come to me, “Dad,
I’m bored.”
“Go find something to do.” I’d reply.
“I don’t know what to do.”
“Go outside and find a friend.”
“Naaa! I don’t want to do that.”
“Use your imagination.”
“Huh?” he asked.
“Well, when I was young......” You know the routine.
Sports is the same. We’re entertained for hours watching someone else have fun
doing what they’re good at. Wouldn’t it be better to be playing yourself? If we don’t like
the sports available to watch, we create new ones. It doesn’t matter what, people will pay
to see it, because they need to be entertained. I haven’t heard of world championship worm digging, but if someone offered a large cash price, people would buy tickets to
scream at the contestants.
I worry.
Are we becoming a society that needs outside influence to have fun? I think I’ll
go climb a tree. Maybe there’s pirate ship on the horizon or someone is attacking my
castle. Just imagine!
Michael T. Smith
When I married Ginny, I gained a new son, daughter and four grandsons. I
became an instant grandpa. Over the July 4th Holiday, I got to meet my new daughter
and her three boys for the first time.
It took a day for my new grandsons to warm up to me. The first day they stared
at me, perhaps wondering what they were suppose to do with this man, who they were
told is “grandpa.” I waited patiently. I knew boys like to play. They’d come to me in their
own time.
On day two the oldest two were doing summersaults over my lap. The youngest,
Ben, took a little longer, but yesterday he raced me across the yard thirty times and won
every time.
The weekend brought back memories of my own childhood. We had such
imaginations. In our minds, a tree was a tower to spot approaching bad guys, a big rock became a mountain, a fallen log a space ship headed to the stars. We had toys, but we
had to use our imagination, not like the new toys I see my grandkids with. Our toys didn’t
talk, and if they did, you pulled a string to make them work. We had blocks to build,
crayons to create, trucks and cars to push. They were simple toys that required
imagination.
I thought about the toys in my garage, the ones I saved, when my children
outgrew them. They were simple and needed their imagination to work. “Mr. Potato
Head” allowed them to learn parts of the body and giggle at the funny face with an ear
where it’s mouth should have been.
I still have an old plastic phone. It has a dial to turn, a bell that rings when you
push a button, and that’s it. It doesn’t talk, squawk, beep or move around the room. It’s
simple and was used when they played house, nurse, doctor, and secretary.
I have a toy doctor’s bag, with all the plastic doctor’s tools. I remember the
broken bones, cuts, bangs, scratches and aches my daughter repaired, as I lay in her office
moaning.
Most toys today do it all. We don’t need imagination; it comes in a box: video
games that take us into another world or reality, talking toys, with vocabularies better
than most people; computerized toys to teach the alphabet. Kids sit and have imagination
brought to them. The teaching toys are great, but children tire of them; it’s like being in school.
When my son was young and tired of his toys, he would come to me, “Dad,
I’m bored.”
“Go find something to do.” I’d reply.
“I don’t know what to do.”
“Go outside and find a friend.”
“Naaa! I don’t want to do that.”
“Use your imagination.”
“Huh?” he asked.
“Well, when I was young......” You know the routine.
Sports is the same. We’re entertained for hours watching someone else have fun
doing what they’re good at. Wouldn’t it be better to be playing yourself? If we don’t like
the sports available to watch, we create new ones. It doesn’t matter what, people will pay
to see it, because they need to be entertained. I haven’t heard of world championship worm digging, but if someone offered a large cash price, people would buy tickets to
scream at the contestants.
I worry.
Are we becoming a society that needs outside influence to have fun? I think I’ll
go climb a tree. Maybe there’s pirate ship on the horizon or someone is attacking my
castle. Just imagine!
Michael T. Smith