In the time I’ve spent with my son so far I’ve had some difficulty getting him to play on his own. My attempts to surround him with toys have fallen flat. My work towards entertaining him with anything that isn’t me simply hasn’t worked. When I sit down at my desk and begin to type I am inevitably treated to a view of my son stressfully squeeling and reaching up towards me in some obvoius discomfort. He’s figured me out: when Dad sits down at the computer he is dead to the world and focused on something else. Eventually I had to give up the idea that I’d get work done (for the time being).
One of the things I picked up was that my son really likes colorful balls. They can be rattles or bouncy, for tennis or exercise, and they come in all shapes and sizes. This realization led to a game. It went through many revisions at first. I needed to realize that my son really couldn’t throw a ball very well yet. He couldn’t yet catch. There wasn’t any accuracy in kicking or even stopping a ball (of considerable size) rolling his way. Something had to be done.
This game I have decided to call “Hallway Ball.” This game is played in the narrow hallway connecting my son’s room to the living room. This narrow stretch serves as bumpers for our game. The ball, when kicked or thrown or in any way projected down the hallway will travel in a relatively straight path. This made all of the difference in the world. All of the sudden my son could get the ball. He could push, throw, or kick it (generally) towards me. His excitement was immediate. I have to say that I was having a great deal of fun too. His laughter is infectious and I felt like a kid again. Perhaps, for a moment, I was — I wasn’t working.