Friday, August 22, 2008

Parallel Play

My critique group's writing retreat inspired a few of us to get together for writing days or writing afternoons. I met with Kay two weeks ago, and Ruth and Lori got together a couple times. This afternoon, I'll meet with Ruth. I hope to finish several chapters of my current nit-picky read-through of my WIP.

When I met with Kay, I was reminded of a term I hadn't thought of since my boys were little. Toddlers don't really play with other toddlers, but if a child will play near another child without friction, child development experts call this a developmental milestone. The word for it is parallel play.

Today, I'll escape the telephone, errands and the washing machine and meet with a like-minded friend. Her diligence will inspire me as we work side by side on different projects, in our version of parallel play.

2 comments:

Debbie Diesen said...

I had forgotten "parallel play," too -- but your mention of the term brings back memories.

[It also mentally unearthed for me one of my odder Moms Rock lyrics, penned many years ago to the tune of Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones: "I can't get no interaction... Hey, hey, hey -- that's parallel play!"]

Hopefully you and Ruth are having a very satisfying parallel play session!

Ann Finkelstein said...

I nit-picked 4 chapters.