When I fell off my bike I told my mother, “You might as well call me, ‘Old One Eyed Clairie!’ She was mixing the toilet. I said louder, “I fell off my bike and that thing out there landed on me. How would you like it if I had to put one of my eyes in a purse and hang it from my left ear?” She laughed and kept mixing. She didn’t even look up.
This is from my book, IF MRS GREEBY ASKS. When young I was often falling off my bike, and I often watched my mom PLAY IN WATER! I, myself, loved to play in water. Sometimes Mom played in the sink with dishes. Sometimes she played in the toilet and I’d ask, “Are you having fun?” because I knew she must be, but her face didn’t look like she was having fun.
When my children were young we used the words ‘play’ and ‘work’ interchangeably. In the mornings we ‘played’ the piano to practice for our piano lessons; not fun. After school we’d ‘work’ on a puzzle, work at making baskets with our basketball, or work at making mud pies then decorated them with tooth paste.
I’d drive my children home from school with one of their friends coming along for an afternoon visit and I’d say, “Now, you played this morning, so when we get home I want all of you to work!” My children laughed and explained the work/play concept to their friends. I used to love playing in water, I still do!