Imagination

I am reading Steven Tyler’s book Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?  Anyone who is clueless regarding who Steven Tyler is I will clue you in.  Steven Tyler is the lead singer of Aerosmith and for those who just discovered him, he was one of the judges on American Idol. 

Okay, now that we aren’t all clueless in Highland, or wherever you live, what prompted me to write is Steven’s imagination as a child.  Come to find out, Steven had an imaginary family just like me!  I KNEW that is why I have a connection with him.

My imaginary family was the Smith family.  All first names started with a “K,” with the exception of the boy in the family.  The Smith family consisted of, in order or age, Kathleen, Karen, Kathy, Karolyn, Kim, and Phillip.  I believe I named the boy Phillip because I had a crush on a Phil in grade school. 

What is quite interesting about this family is imaginary Karen Smith was a teacher in this family.  Why is this interesting?  I now work with a teacher whose name is, you guessed it, Karen Smith.  Imaginary Karen Smith was also the teacher to my 50+ student stuffed animals piled on my bed.  “Real” Karen Smith would pull her hair out if she walked in with 50 students sitting there.

Thank goodness in the 70’s I wasn’t marked as a “Sybil” with all these multiple personalities.  My parents didn’t rush me to the nuthouse because I had this imaginary family with me.  In a time where there were no constant video games or cable TV, kids were actually using their imagination to create fun. 

Does anybody ever just lie on the grass and look up at the clouds to see what shape they are forming?  Probably not.  When my son was younger at times he would say, “I am bored.”  My response?  “It is good to be bored.  When you are an adult, you will have many moments when you wish you are bored.”

It is quite sad when asking kindergarteners if they have ever played a board game and their response is, “no.”  This just baffles my mind.  The last day of school the entire class was building a “city.”  The city consisted of Lincoln Logs, blocks, etc. etc.  The goal?  Build an imaginary city.  How sad that some students had no clue how to do this.  Some didn’t even know where to begin!  I am sure some kids are just used to having a controller in their hand and face glued to a television set.  Your imagination can make up some of the best games……FOR FREE.

I did let my son play video games; however, there was a time limit.  His room was also filled with Legos and blocks.  Shaun could even build with K’NEX at an early age.  When I look at the K’NEX “how to” sheet, I stare at it and say, “Really?”  You might as well put a Calculus book in front of my face because it looks the same to me.  Plus, this child could play chess at an early age.  Me?  I would make my own Chess rules by using my imagination.  My Chess game was much more fun that all those “real” Chess rules.

As you read this, take a trip back into your imagination time.  Hopefully it will bring a smile to your face as you remember those simple childhood imagination days.    J