Remembering the days of Winnie The Pooh's Spontaneous Table-Dancing

Today in the car, on the way back from day camp, Daniel was telling me that he no longer has any interest in playing with toys, of the creative-play variety.  For me, that seemed like a great tragedy - at the very least a very traumatic milestone if not something worse, so I decided to consult Ian on the matter.

Ian and I took a walk, completely designed by him, down to a Poke-stop, or a Poke-gym - some designated spot to do battle via cell phone when you play Pokemon Go, followed by an imprompto early quasi-supper of eggplant sub and "Italian French Fries" - French fries doused in olive oil and a touch of tomato sauce with some Italini-sh spices.  On our way back from the main drag, with all its shops and Poke-gyms, I asked Ian at what age he stopped playing with play-things, along the lines of toy soldiers and toy cars, and I told him about Daniel's new attitude toward creative play, and that I was afraid that all the time Daniel has spent on screens may have stripped away his creative energies,

Ian had a very nuanced perspective on the whole thing, but the vignette that he shared to illustrate his point was delightful in its own right.  He said he thought maybe toys run their course - that their appeal diminishes as their novelty wears off, and, to show how things that are wonderful when they're new can become dull with time and use, he told this story:

When he was in an early grade of elementary school - like first or second grade - the boys at his lunch table would make each other laugh uproariously by hallucinating out loud as follows:  "Winnie the Pooh is dancing on the table."  He said they enjoyed that quip for a long time, but as the proposition became ever-more repeated over the course of the year, it lost its comedic edge.  Of course, there was still a boy who kept uttering the declaration well into the school year, but over time everyone else found it harder and harder to find humorous.

I just thought this reflection deserved its own special appreciation:  a 13-year-old's memory of all the boys at his lunch table, including himself, finding it simply hilarious when someone would announce, "Winnie the Pooh is dancing on the Table," and the usefulness that its devaluation with over-use serves even now to explain a younger brother's perspective to a befuddled Daddy.

(June 28, 2017)