The Absolute Rules of Fun

By @health_scare A hot topic at the moment is fun, and exactly how one should be having it. Apparently, having the required dosage of fun will aid us in our work. Apparently, having fun will increase our chances of enjoying what we do. And I’m a believer. I really am. I just can’t play to the stereotype of fun. I can’t have fun on demand. I get a bit anti-fun. So I’ve held an experiment. With no priming, coaching or warning, I’ve individually asked each of my children to ‘have fun’ for one minute, and noted the response. Hudson. 10 months: He was already having fun it seemed, so just continued hitting his toy brick against the floor with no regard to my one minute rule. Joni. 4: Jumped on to the sofa, then to the coffee table, then back to the sofa, then onto the dog, then back to the sofa to jump on the dog again.The dog moved just in time so the fun ended in facial carpet burn. Betty. 8: Didn’t even look up from her book. When pressed she said that she was “already having fun”, then she went off to read in her room instead. Lily. 11: By now she had twigged what was going on and just asked for money to go to the shop with her friend. It’s clear that they all express their fun in different ways, and I get that. So fun is not a formula. I may be having fun even if I don’t look like it. Chances are I am. I am enjoying life at the moment, just don’t ask me to jump on the tables, LOL or even ROFL on demand, otherwise you may spoil my fun.