You're On!

I do love me a challenge, and so I was all in when the NY Times ran a five-day activity designed to help participants learn a poem. How could I resist a description that stated,  A poem can lift the spirits and nourish the soul. This week, let’s all learn one together! Heck, I even sent the link to my former 6th Grade English colleagues! And I definitely gained an immense appreciation of Edna St. Vincent Millay and her poem "Recuerdo." 

Just the opening line, We were very tired, we were very merry--, perfectly describes the punch-drunkenness of many late nights spent with friends, and the five activities the Times offered, along with the amazing gallery of contemporary authors reading the poem, made the challenge a joy.

So when I saw that they were offering a creativity challenge last week, I was all in. And although it was no "Recuerdo," I completed the doodles and the other activities with fidelity right up until Friday morning when the directions were to "try one new thing." They offered a list of options to commit to with a click, and of the 23, I felt like over half would not be new. Even so, there was one thing that caught my interest-- the 30-second dance party.

It did involve buying a doodad, but the description also seemed kind of fun: It’s an annoying toy, but on days when you can’t fit in a workout, it’s guaranteed to get your body moving. 

So, I ordered one, and it was waiting for us when we got home from the beach this afternoon. After dog-sitting for the weekend, Treat was still here when I tore into the package and inserted the batteries. He was very obliging when the strange accent ordering us to dance for 30 seconds emerged from the button's speaker, and the three of us had ourselves a hat-trick of micro dance parties before brainstorming ways we could use the concept to bring a little fun and movement to a middle school classroom.