This weekend I have had the grandgirls staying again and baking etc. We spent all day baking inside yesterday and as it is a beautiful sunny day today, I got the girls to put down their devices and come outside and play some games.
I have a number of wooden outdoor games to play when I am spending time with the kids. It is nice to have something to do with them that gets them away from screens for a while.
One of the games we played was Giant Jenga. I quipped part way through, that this is probably not an ideal game for someone with Parkinson’s. This lead to us joking around with each other about what would be good things to do for someone with Parkinson’s and ones that weren’t so good. Particularly focussing on how ‘the shakes’ could help or hinder…
So here’s what we came up with:
- Good category
- Making cocktails.
- Rocking a baby to sleep.
- Hula hooping.
- Break dancing.
- Jazz hands.
- Not so good category
- Jenga.
- Operation game.
- Kerplunk.
- Knife throwing.
- Putting on false eyelashes.
- Putting on contact lenses.
- Playing darts
Humour is very much what gets us through. So too, with the silly things in the list above. Parkies is a serious condition, I don’t think any of us would deny that. However, sometimes I feel if all we do is think and talk about the negative aspects of Parkies – of which there are undoubtedly many – then down that path leads to depression.
To laugh at ourselves and make light of it, sometimes helps I think. I often say in my work that many people I work with after a stroke joke around a lot, they hide behind a mask of humour. It is a coping mechanism.
While some may say it’s nothing to joke about, as is often heard said, ‘If you didn’t laugh you’d cry!’
I’d much rather laugh at it than cry at the moment.
Plenty of time for tears….
My journey with Parkinsons 