Duck, Duck, Goose!
Geo
Do you remember this little game? All of us sitting in a circle while one slowly circled, gently patting us on the head chanting the mantra of "Duck, duck, duck, duck......Goose!" And then the chase began! Fast as we could, arms reaching out, legs and feet searching for traction until the duck was caught and the game began anew.
The pure joy of play, so evident on small kids faces, so pure that even just watching the game can bring broad smiles of joy. Smiles of joy to me, as well.
I think that pure joy still lives in this old one's heart. I was across the gym watching the 3 and 4 year-olds finish up their gym class with a good round of Duck, Duck, Goose. Even from there I had to smile, just watching them chase and be chased.
The teen-aged girls were waiting to take the mat and they, too, smiled when they heard the squeals of delight, the little pounding of soft bare feet on the mat and the thump of the chaser now sitting.
Robert Fulgham had a version of Musical Chairs where the one that didn't get a chair when the music stopped wasn't "out". They could stay if they found a lap to sit in, balance on, or snuggle into with the help of the group, especially as more and more people where sitting on fewer and fewer laps. He commented that this not only brought out cooperation in the group, but simple joy as well.
Perhaps the unbridled joy in this one's face can only come from one so young, so small and so loved. Safe as can be in her loved one's arms, the world is to be laughed at and squealed at with laughter.
As we become more self-aware (spelled; self-conscious) does some of that pure joy diminish, or is it still there?
When the teacher of the gymnastic class merely mentioned that the game was to be played, the kids were running in place, pounding their feet and wiggling at the prospect. And so , he too had to smile, sit down, and when it was his turn, chase as if the world outside didn't exist.
Access: Public
childhood
August 2008 
Fantastic, joyous image. Thank you. It reminds me of Field Day at my school last week. We have so much fun with that—when the tug of war happens the teachers run alongside the kids who’re pulling the ropes, hollering encouragement. and the final event is musical chairs, where kids walk around a circle of metal folding chairs and stop when the music stops—only, one kid gets to sit in a bucket of ice water, and one kid gets no seat and is thus out. the screams of delight on field day always thrill me. one of my students, a tall skinny kid with kind of spiky hair, had the idea to don a red cape and a red felt eyemask with slightly crooked holes. he would run through the gym waving our makeshift flag-on-a-yardstick and getting the kids excited. we ‘won’ field day, to our surprise, but it didn’t really matter—we had so much fun just being there.
Would that we all returned to such.
“As we become more self-aware (spelled; self-conscious) does some of that pure joy diminish, or is it still there?”
Of course it's still there … we just need to set it free to come out and play …
K
Beautiful, joyous. Thank you.