Fun in the midst of busy-ness

Aftercare duty on a Friday...not exactly my idea of fun...especially when there is much work to be done.

(Ooh, that rhymed!)

Luckily, there were only as many children in aftercare today as I have fingers (on one hand), so there were no behavior problems or things like that.

As I was sitting and working on a couple of things, I remarked to my fellow aftercare teacher (who happened to be my co-teacher from last year) that my to-do list for this upcoming week was pretty long...and only getting longer.

And so, I kept working. I soon realized, though, that one of my middle school students seemed to be bored, as none of her classmates were in aftercare today. So, I told her I'd play Connect Four with her if she brought it over to the table. She looked at me and said, "Miss Foyle, you can't play a game - your to-do list is too long."

Yes, that was probably true.

But I responded, "It's never too long to miss out on playing a game."

This was also true.

She smiled, and we played for only a few minutes before her mom came to pick her up.

Sure, it was 5 or so minutes I could have spent doing work and attempting to make my to-do list shorter. But, let's face it, the to-do list never ends. If we don't take the time to relax and have some fun, we miss out on some pretty good times, while the race we appear to be "winning" is one that is not really leading anywhere.

So, the next time someone invites you to take a break and join the fun, it just might do your heart good to take that person up on the invitation...