You don’t see kids standing or sitting still much these days. Just about every moment of their day is programmed. And when they aren’t in school or at soccer or ballet practice or doing homework, their faces are usually buried in a tablet or smartphone.
I was in a shopping mall recently, and as I entered a fitting room I noticed a 4-year-old sitting alone on a bench waiting for his mom. What was he doing to pass the time? Playing games on a smartphone, of course. Ug.
There’s hope, however, for the neighbor boy. I got a kick out of watching him waddle out of the house in his snow pants the other day. He dragged his overstuffed school backpack to the car and then shuffled into the yard to grab a handful of snow.
He worked that snow into a nice little ball. Then he stood motionless by the front door for almost three minutes as he waited anxiously for one of his sisters to step outside.
I was almost as excited as he was to find out what might happen next, but unfortunately the boy’s dad must’ve sensed trouble. He stuck his head out of the door and foiled the boy’s scheme. He was ordered to toss the snowball against the house instead.
The experience was a bit anticlimactic, but it wasn’t a total loss. Although nobody got a face full of fresh snow, I did get proof that even in this programmed world, kids still know how to unleash their ingenuity and imagination.