WEDNESDAY WISDOM: Our Favorite Things

 

OUR FAVORITE THINGS "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things." Rodgers & Hammerstein

 

I spent a week on vacation recently with a dozen family members of all ages — children, teenagers, adults, and seniors — and along the way we discovered a fun, easy activity to spark conversation and get to know each other better. The exercise is simple: Someone thinks of a topic requiring them to identify “one of their favorite things” that fits their chosen category. For example: “What is one of your favorite movies, and why?” “What is one of your favorite fast-food restaurants, and why?” “What is one of your favorite animals, and why?” “What is one of your favorite types of food, and why?” They answer first and explain why it’s one of their favorites. Follow-up discussion is encouraged. Then the question moves around the circle to the next person. Once each person in the circle has shared one of their favorite things of that category and told why they picked that, it’s the next person’s turn to initiate a round. They think up the next “favorite thing” topic, they give the answer first, and then around the circle it goes again. This turned out to be a delightful way to pass long hours on the road with my wife and three teenage granddaughters. Our granddaughters live far away from us and we seldom get to spend much time with them. This activity allowed all of us to get to know each other better, and made the miles go faster. We revisited this game on the last evening of our week together. Our entire group gathered in a large circle and we used three “favorite thing” questions to recall and appreciate a wonderful vacation: “What was one of your favorite activities or places we visited this week, and why?" “What was one of your favorite foods we ate this week, and why?” “What was one of your favorite things you learned this week, and why?" Of course, we all thought of different things during our turns, and there were a lot of “Oh, yeah, that was one of mine too,” or “You’re right, I forgot about that.” Whether young, old, or in between, we had no trouble sharing wonderful memories. We found this closing round of favorite things was a sweet and reassuring way to bring our time together to an uplifting close, a delightful reminder of good times shared.  * * * * * How about you and your family or friends? Is there an upcoming occasion when you could use this simple activity to share memories, learn more about each other, or put a capstone on a great time spent together? What about Mother’s Day or Memorial Day or a summer afternoon picnic? Here are a few suggestions to get you started: “What is one of your favorite memories of Mother (or Grandmother), and why?" “What is something you really appreciate about our country, and why?” “What is one of your favorite picnic foods, and why?”  Try it; I’m sure you’ll like it as much as we did.