Welcome to Wacky Wednesday!

Good morning and Happy Wacky Wednesday. This is one of my favorite days of the week, because it is so easy to have fun with. The point of Wacky Wednesday is to search the world around us for things that are not quite as they should be - things out of place. We've seen all kinds of wacky things over time - things such as a bushel of sixteen helium balloons flying out the window of a moving car; dog bones being handed out at the McDonald's drive through; a man pushing a medicine ball, painted to be a globe, while walking from California to Philadelphia; people wearing shorts on a cold winter day; and a water tank that we imagine has no water in it.

We aren't simply observers on Wacky Wednesday. We also actively create wackiness around us. Last week we walked in and out of day care backwards. The week before we wore mismatched socks. Other weeks have included activities such as wearing our t-shirts backwards; eating pancakes, eggs, and bacon for dinner, instead of breakfast; sporting red galoshes with orange shorts on a hot summer day; eating with a spoon instead of a fork; eating two desserts when one is the rule or eating dessert and then dinner; and singing instead of talking. Of course we finish every Wacky Wednesday by reading the book Wacky Wednesday, written by Theo LeSieg (make sure you leave plenty of time).

Two more things about this activity. First, a great byproduct of Wacky Wednesday is that it requires the boys to use their imagination. Every once in a while one of them will say they don't have an imagination. I promptly ask them to close their eyes and describe what they see. After three or four minutes of non sequiturs, I gently point out that that was, in fact, their imagination at work. Second, this activity like each of others is carefully selected to require NO extra work on my part. We go about our business on Wednesdays and moving through the day while looking for Wacky things requires no extra time, no extra money, and no preparation. This is the key to making the idea work in the long haul.

I know I promised to provide a grown-up version each day, but not today. Looking for wacky things tests our creativity in the same way it tests the creativity of the children in our lives. So play along with the idea. Challenge your own creativity while doing things such as driving to and from work, waiting in line for lunch, sitting in a meeting, or running errands at your local supermarket. Wacky things are everywhere. How many can you find?

Signing off until tomorrow... __________ Thursday!