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Friday
Sep102010

What happened (last) weekend

DateFriday, September 10, 2010 at 10:03PM

This post was originally posted on The Hiding Spot, which I visited during my Dotty blog tour.  However, I decided to post it here too.  Here goes:

I hold onto a lot from my childhood - books, photos, toys, and especially books - but something happened over the weekend that made me realize that the thing I hold onto most is my ability to play. I think adults should play a lot more, and should bring a sense of playfulness into their everyday lives. I feel very lucky to get to hang out with my kids, who keep me playing and who force me to play even when I am tired and acting too much like a grown up.

What happened this weekend was: we were taking a hike, and the kids started to complain that it was taking too long, so I picked up a stick and announced that it would be the story stick and we would make up a story. Immediately, the longness and uphillness and are-we-there-yet-ness was forgotten. I kicked it off with "Once upon a time there was a toad who wanted to be a frog..." and then I handed off the stick and my younger daughter started spinning the most excellent yarn. Before we were through, there was a unicorn (of course), a blue Yeti, two giants, an enchantress and a very bad cat. We also created elaborate rules as we went, which was fun, too.

The point is, so often I am tempted to say to my kids "go play!" but the fact is, I need play as much as they do. Which is one of the things I was trying to say with Dotty: adults should hold onto their essential childishness as long as possible AND not keep it a secret. One of the greatest gifts you can give to a child is to show that, inside, you're a kid, too. Not all the time, of course, because kids get comfort from reliability and rules and firmness and all that adult stuff. But every so often, just like Ms. Raymond, you have to take them aside and show them that you still have a string.

And if that last line makes no sense, please read my new book, Dotty. Because then it will. 

Your friend, Erica

And her friend, Dotty

PS = Come see us at the Princeton Children's Book Festival TOMORROW (9/11/10) from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

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