Child's Play

Recently my husband and I were discussing the games we played and loved as children.  He shared that he loved the game "Red Rover," where two lines of people hold hands and chant, "Red Rover, Red Rover, let *** come over," and then one person would hurl themselves to the other side, attempting to break their chain and pull someone to the other side, etc., etc.  I never much cared for this game, and instead I preferred those "clappy" games, where a pattern of claps are established, and the group works in unison to preserve this pattern.  I really liked one to which we sang "Rockin' Robbin."  Here's the issue that came to mind later.  The games we play as children set up a way of thinking about the world in its little childlike microcosm.  My games seemed friendly, and they were, but they established a way of thinking that said there is a right, a correct, way of doing things, and you don't want to branch out or think for yourself because it will mess everyone else up.  "Red Rover," on the other hand, is what I see a lot of, with this side versus that side... hurling our ideas and insults at each other in an attempt to break through to another group and pull some back to our side, our way of thinking... and someone inevitably gets hurt at this game.  These are both games with rules, though, and not purely child's play.  I look at my four kids, and I see four individuals, sometimes playing together, sometimes fighting, and sometimes playing on their own.  My best example, though, is when music begins to play, as it often does in this Christmas season.  I received the ugliest "White Elephant" gift last year, a fish named Frankie that sings obnoxiously, and my kids love it.  Regardless of anything else going on, they will stop and dance to this fish's music.  They all dance differently, one ballet-esque, one bouncing, one running around like crazy, and yet another bobbing her head side-to-side.  There are no rules to the dance, but to follow one's heart and the beat to which they dance... and somehow it is all precious all together, however chaotic.  I think we ultimately could learn from child's play, from dancing our own dance.  If we could all forget about the correct, the right, the rules, the culture-established norms, and hear instead the music that makes us want to dance as children, I think we would find that we share in the same source of such a musical beat, and we would be able to dance differently, yet symbiotically.  Can you think of a better form of child's play to learn from?