I am a “fun junkie.” I am sure everyone likes to have fun, everyone likes to laugh, but it is my “big thing.” I have been thinking about it a lot lately in the context of how “fun” changes over your lifetime. When I was 8, my friend Lori and I could send ourselves into total fits of giggles just by saying a phrase (which I currently can’t recall, but it will come to me). Those fits of giggles were THE BEST THING in the world! Whatever the phrase was (it is on the tip of my tongue), we would say over and over and over just causing the most hysterical 8 year old girl laughter you could imagine and it was PURE FUN!!!
In my teen years, I had a friend who shall remain nameless, but just about anything he said would crack me right up. He wasn’t a comedian per se, but he was the person you always wanted to sit next to in class. He had some of the best responses to things and an amazingly quick analysis of reality and it just caused 8 year old girl hysterics for me.
In my 20s, I was surrounded by funny people, some who were literally paid for it, but I also branched out into my own sense of fun. One night, while on a double date, the other girl and I started bonding. The four of us had been to dinner and then went to play Miniature Golf (it is important to keep the “miniature golf” description in mind, as we were NOT at the Master’s Tournament in Augusta, but playing “Pirate’s Cove Golf”). A few drinks had been had by all and “tee time” was roughly 9:00pm. As the other girl and I began our game, we were faced with the reality that we sucked. Now, there might be reasonable explanations for this – the wearing of heels, the alcohol intake, a basic lack of “proper respect for the game.” The latter response was my boyfriend’s explanation of why we were sucking at this golf thing. Anyway, by the third hole, which I believed involved a large plastic, animatronic alligator, and 20 minutes of direction on how to “improve our swings,” we decided we liked our version of golf better. We made our pwn rules. You got a point for shouting “p[lay through” and waiting patiently while the other people played through. You got a point for each obstacle on the hole you hit. If your ball bounced around like a pinball, 10 points! If you stood on one foot and made club to ball contact, 25 points! At one point, she and I were laughing so hard, we both had to sit down. Sadly, my boyfriend was NOT at all amused by this and was mortified at our lack of respect “for the course” (he is NOT my husband). By the time we were done, we had converted her date to our way of playing, as well as many other amused golfers on the course. We did not convert Mr. Competitive Pants. It still goes down in history as one of the most fun things I have EVER done, and in things I do to this day, I strive to see the fun like we did that night, even in the face of a Mr. Pissy Pants.
Now in my 30’s, “fun” has evolved again. I have four kids, and not a day goes by without one of them making me laugh. Hmmm, maybe I am actually a “laughter junkie.” Must address that thought. Anyway, one of them is always coming up with something…For example, the time my 6 year old was in major trouble and I was counting her down. I hollered up the stairs, “One!” and paused and before I could even get a breath in, my one year old hollered up the stairs, “Two!” The bedroom door upstairs flew open and the 6 year old hollered back down “I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE THAT FROM HER!!!” I had to stop counting and hide in the other room. I couldn’t stop laughing…for hours. BUt our most fun thing was this January when the Snowpocalypse happened. It was predicted, and I admit, I prepared for it (Thank God I did). I bought a ton of extra milk, bread, food, flashlights, batteries (shut up, Jamie), and battery powered lights (no candles for a house with a two year old and one year old). The two older kids and I totally prepared, much to the disdain of my husband. The snow was predicted to hit after 9pm, and it was a school night. We got all the kids to bed as if it were a school night (7:30pm) and then he and I decided to have a mini date night and we ended up watching the movie “Date Night.” He had been convinced this snow storm wasn’t coming, but at 11:00pm, it was a fricking blizzard and actually accumulating. It hit me – we have to get the girls up before it melts!!! We checked the news, schools were canceled the next day, so I finally convinced him to wake up the girls. So, at 11:15 pm, we got the girls up, fed them a snack and hot chocolate, got them and ourselves into our “snow gear” and went out into the snow a midnight. We were the only ones outside, the FIRST ones outside and we had a blast! My husband (who is also a fun person) even had a great time! We were laughing, sledding, throwing snowballs….PURE FUN!!! Postscript: We ended up with 5 days of school closings and road closures and COLD, so the “fun” became “tricky” by the 3rd day of no school. But, we had milk. And batteries.
But, as a parent of four kids, how do you find your own “adult fun”? Jamie will now insert a really dirty joke about the swingers club downtown…My husband and I used to play poker and bet things. For example, one night he lost a Hold ’em hand and had to run through our backyard naked. I lost a hand and had to but him a soccer jersey he wanted. That was PURE FUN! WE have “game night.” PURE FUN!!! In fact, here is a shout out…”Catch Phrase”, the original not the electronic version is just the best!!!
I am now going to youtube Robin Williams’ explanation of golf and laugh until my tummy hurts:)
I must admit