She keeps us entertained for days!

Last night Palesa was making funny faces and smiling at Grandpa Ralph.  Then, Grandma Nancy held her and moved her side to side while talking to her and seeking to keep eye contact.  Palesa just tracked her eyes back and forth, and maintained eye contact for over 10 minutes.  We were all impressed at her long attention span!

Then Palesa had some excellent tummy-time.  Again, she spent 10 or 15 minutes on her belly, holding up her head and moving it from side to side.  We think she has a wonderfully strong little neck. 

Playing...is NOT an intuitive concept for everyone.

I have a colleague just a few years older than me, an overachieving workaholic with an MBA, J.D (that is a law degree), a CFA, and oh yeah... no life outside of work.  

When we first started working together, my first thought was (obviously) who is this person?  I've since learned that he most likely has no other activities BUT work... or else doesn't know how to do anything else.  His family lives in another country, and he apparently also has a girlfriend also currently living in another country.  

He literally lives at the office.  In one of life's little dramatic ironies, his landlord threatened to evict him on New Years Eve because he was convinced he didn't actually live there.  So what does he do?  He spends the morning petitioning to the management company, and then comes into the office at 2:30 pm.  ON NEW YEARS EVE.  When the office closes at 3:00.  Per company policy, if you stay at work past 8:30, our company pays for a car service home.  He lives waaaaaay uptown.  (That car service concept is wasted on me because I get to walk to work, not that I would care to be in the office that late anyway).  But it is NOT necessary to work until 10:00 or 11:00 or midnight.  Saturday and Sunday, however, he does inform me he goes home early.  Like 7:00 pm.  ON SATURDAY.

He's also not the best time manager.  In fact, he's one of the least efficient workers I know, but seems to thinks he doesn't have a choice but to stay in the office and work past the point of exhaustion.

I gave him the New York Times article on the importance of playing, and made him read it.  Three times he chimes up with an "I disagree!" or "But...".  I tell him to keep reading.  He gets to the point about natural settings activating this involuntary attention.  

So what does he do?  He proceeds to spend the next 4 hours downloading a PICTURE of a green mountain with a lake.  It will be made into wallpaper on his desktop, he reasons, so he will get to spend his day in front of his computer in front of a natural setting.  Oh Goodness.  It takes so long because there are restrictions for downloading wallpapers, so he has to get IT to do it for him.   Forget actually GOING outside and looking at a tree (or even a city block and fresh air is an improvement), or forget getting your work done quickly and going home before 6pm on a Friday.  No, go download a picture on your computer of a natural setting.

Kids, this is not the point.  Playing should be PLAYING.  Go outside.

Keep on Playing!

Work-life balance is a major point of contention between me and my employers.  We differ sharply on the concept that "the longer you're in the office, the more work you do" and sitting in your chair for the sake of sitting in your chair.

I'm motivated to work efficiently and get things done so that I can leave in the evening to go run.  When I don't run, I am grumpy, sleep poorly, and overall less am productive and feel less happy.  Running-time is the only time I know I'll get fresh air all day, and I keep going during the day knowing I get to spend those miles after work (most of the time, occasionally before) in Central Park, my favorite spot in New York City.  

When I run with my friends, running is almost therapy- maybe it is something about sharing the bond of running/sweating/trying to have a conversation at an elevated heart rate in the first place that has brought my running buddies and me closer.  When I run alone, running is active meditation.  I think about something I'm trying to solve, or I intentionally let my mind wander to think about nothing at all.  Returning from a run leaves me re-inspired, refreshed, and energized.  In short, running is my play-time. 

The New York Times just published an article about the importance of recess in child development.  I beg to argue that it is not important to just young children, but that is besides the point.  Basically, there are 2 forms of attention- directed attention and involuntary attention.  Directed attention is what we use when we're concentrating on work, reading, sitting in front of a computer etc.  It is a limited resource and leaves us fatigued.  

On the other hand, involuntary attention kicks in when we are distracted by playing, and seems to kick in when we're in natural settings.  This kind of attention allows our directed attention to restore itself.  

Here is my favorite quote... "Young rats denied opportunities for rough-and-tumble play develop numerous social problems in adulthood.  They fail to recognize social cues and the nuances of rat hierarchy; they aren't able to mate.  By the same token, people who play as children 'learn to handle life in a much more resilient and vital way.'"

So, more proof that playing is important to physical and social development, and more fodder to my argument that running makes me work better.  

And as for the implied correlation based on rat studies between failing to play/failing to view playtime as important and socially-unadjusted colleagues with unhappy home lives?  I'll leave that one for the reader to decide.