Step 2 to a Stress-Free You

Inauguration Day and Woodstock concert for the messiah-elect fast approaches. If you're like me, this leaves you with a high anxiety level. I have blogged recently about the importance of controlling stress in our lives. Now for the highly anticipated continuation of my 5-step program! Step one, as you recall, suggests you organize your stuff.

Step Two: Play

YOU: What do you mean "Play"? Play what?
ME: You have to figure that out for yourself.

Children know instictively how to play. Somewhere along the line we adults forget how. I believe I may have found my answer. Before I share it with you, let me first share this related poem...

Love of Madness

Chaotic joy engulfs the eager mind,
Now delving into darkness, losing sight,
Embracing dreams that reason aches to blight,
I float away, in shadow intertwined.
Tonight I seek to shun the light that blinds
And throw myself into the twisting night,
For only there can recklessness incite
That bleak euphoria within mankind!
And there, upon the very precipice
Below which lies the stormy sea I seek,
I wish to stand and revel in the bliss
Of peril and of turmoil unique.
That primal thrill shall not again be missed
As madness executes its dark technique.

A jumbled plastic joy personified
Now diving in the ball pit, losing sense,
Embracing rashness dignity defied,
I float away atop the waves immense.
Today I seem to have upset the staff;
A thirty year old man seems out of place.
And yet among the plastic balls I laugh,
O sweet euphoria within this space!
And there, among the blue and red and green,
I wish to sit and frolic all my days.
But oh, alas, the manager is mean;
He yells, for I have scared the kids away.
And now that primal thrill has slipped from me,
Such is the justice system’s dark decree.

The author is my eldest boy and was the result of a HS assignment a few years ago. He is currently an all "A" 2nd year student at U of ND, proving that madness and brilliance are two sides of the same coin.

My point is, this poem speaks to me. Oh the colorful sensory experience of ball pits! "They are actually one of the most therapeutic types of play that involves tactile and visual stimuli... Ball pools provide a multi-sensory environment that will awaken the senses or calm them down... How cool is that?"

But what if your local McDonald's isn't a "Playland" (or you're like me and you have been served with a PPO and the local cops know your car)? Isn't it time to bring the fun and much needed sensory input into your own home?

$2,910.00 is such a small price to pay for peace of mind.