March 28: Be Silly

      Two of my favorite cousins spent the night last night.  The younger one, Patrick, is 4, and so he wanted to watch a really dumb movie and we all watched it with him, and had fun making fun of it.  And then as he was supposed to be "winding down" for bed, he spent a good half hour running awkwardly around the living room and making weird noises and talking to himself and growling.  It was wonderful.  Before they left today I wanted to do something fun with them, so we played the game "Curses."  For those of you who haven't played this, everyone must perform a silly challenge, like "mug the person to your left" or "pretend to tell your child their pet has died," all while acting as if you're under a curse, like "talk like a vampire" or "every time you speak, you must scratch yourself like a monkey."  Needless to say, it can be a very funny game, and quite challenging.  I once played up to 7 curses at once!  I was quite proud of myself.  Anyway, the key to this game is, you have to act silly.  Downright ridiculous.  It is really best if you have no reservations whatsoever.  And the sillier of a mood you are in, i.e. late at night, etc., the better.

     Then tonight after a friend's soccer game we came home to watch a movie and eat junk food.  The badminton set was right beside one of the couches (which face each other), so of course we ended up playing badminton in the living room and food absolutely got involved.  It was so much fun.  And then later after our friend got up to leave, we busted up laughing at his butt, which had a melted m&m smeared all over it.  There were the necessary "mess in the pants" jokes, and they left around 2 a.m.  Ever notice how the later you stay up, the sillier you get?  It's a beautiful kind of euphoria that reminds me of being a kid.  When everything was simple and little things were funny and we didn't care about what we looked like or what people thought of us.  Now if we want to be "silly," we have to really let our guard down and work at it, which is sad.  However, "a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men."  

     So try and get a little more silly into your life.  There's a great article about it at http://www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com/2011/03/the-many-benefits-of-being-silly/