For the past week or so, there has been a big pile of dirt in the parking lot/alley/rink behind our building. I don't know where it came from, but from the moment it arrived there have been kids playing on it. They run up it and run down. They charge at it on a bike and make it half way up and then roll back down. They push one another up and somersault down. They make dirt angels in it. They throw one another off it and laugh. Man. You want to give kids something to do, put a big pile of dirt in their neighbourhood.
When I was here I took a boat from one part of the country to another and when we'd approach a village, all the kids would come out to wave at the boat, then they'd jump into the river and play in the waves from the boat's wake, killing themselves laughing. Then they'd jump off the bridges.
I love how kids will turn the most mundane thing into a source of serious fun. It just wouldn't occur to me to try to get enjoyment out of a pile of dirt. Well, it's gone now, I see, and so are the kids, but they've probably found a sinkhole somewhere.
2 comments:
that's so funny to think about and imagine.
hey when I was just finishing at the Men. Centre, Romeo d'Allaire came and gave a talk and then visited with our program. His talk was all about the importance of letting kids muck around in the dirt. He was setting up a camp for survivors of torture and trauma (just what our program was for) and a big part of helping kids heal was lots of time to play in the mud. He's an amazing guy.
I didn't know you saw him speak. That must have been so amazing. I was just talking about him with B the other night and I really want to read his book.
That sounded like a really cool talk, and I think he's onto something. Rolling in the mud would definitely be healing.
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