Whiny Baby
And with a new school year - time for something new here in the newsletter! And while I'm sure you're not hoping to add more 'whining' to your household, stay with me for a minute.
In a parish so well rooted in Godly Play, it should come as no surprise that praying and playing are very closely related. And one thing I want to emphasize about prayer is that it's about being in conversation with God. But sometimes it's easier to start with being in conversation with someone right in front of you. Now, on to the game!
This week, while scrolling Instagram, I found a post from a mom talking about a game she plays with her daughter, who is about 8, and the game is called Whiny Baby.
The idea is simple: starting with big things, you take turns complaining about things that are bothering you. After any given complaint, if the listener wants to say something, they can ask, "Do you want advice or do you just want to complain?" If the other person says they want advice, then the listener can offer it. If they just want to complain, the next person takes their turn.
This list of complaints essentially devolves from the big things down to little silly things with the goal that everyone playing will have aired their grievances and eventually wound up laughing. The hope is also to improve communication in a low stress way, demonstrate that adults have complaints that kids can also offer help and insight about.
You might use this game as a way to collate some prayer requests or even cap it with a prayer or an offer to ask God to help with some part of the complaint, but you don't have to. (God's listening anyway.)
You can see the originator playing the game here!
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