I have to say that working in an elementary and middle school there are many times when I look back at childhood and say, "Thank you Lord for my thirties." But I picked up one of my kids from gym class the other day and they were playing kickball. Do you remember kickball? Now I couldn't hit a ball with a bat to save my life, but there was something magical and wonderful about kickball. Kicking that ball as hard as I could then running with all fury and diligence around the bases. I realize now that a home-run in kickball wasn't such a big deal. But in gym class, in elementary school, if I got a home-run, I was on top of the world. So from kickball my mind wondered to other amazing elementary school games. Tag. Dodgeball. Even a little bit of square dancing. But my most favorite of all--the parachute.
We had names for the way we would do the parachute. The ripple--this is where you shake it as hard as you could. The mushroom--you would lift it high in the air and run to toward the center, then run back out before it came down over your head. And then you would walk in a circle, or all hide underneath it. A couple of years back (maybe three years ago now), I was on mission trip to Romania, working in the villages of the Roma (to say "gypsy" is a derogatory term). And they had a parachute and did the same things that I remember doing in gym class (that great time of day in elementary schoo). Kids are kids no matter where you go. And fun is fun, no matter what the language.
Boy, do I miss gym class. I go to the gym now and it is just not the same. Walking on a treadmill, riding a stationary bike. Not the same as kickball.
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