Date Night: Tag You’re It!

Remember what it was like to be seven? Starting off each summer morning by slipping on your jellies and heading outside to hop on your purple banana seat bike, pedal over to your neighbor’s house, knock on the door and ask, “Can Lindsey come out to play?” Well, maybe your friend wasn’t Lindsey, or maybe you weren’t cool enough to wear jellies, but at seven, that’s what you did with your friends – you played!

Then you turned that awkward age of twelve, where deep down you still really wanted to “play” but you had to be “cool.” So you took fifteen minutes to roll (and reroll) your leggings, zipped up your wind breaker, and passed on the bike so you had more time to contemplate the more age appropriate way to ask your friend to “play.” “Can Lindsey, err… hang out?”

Next, tween-hood, when your friend radius grew from the neighborhood to the entire town. So in order to “play” you actually had to have memorized your friend’s number, picked up the phone mounted on the wall, and pushed real buttons. Only to have had her cute, older, “cooler” brother answer and ask,”What are you doing?” To which you replied, “Good!”

[Insert pure mortification!]

Now, as an adult momma, (along with thanking God you survived high school), you “get together” with friends for “play dates.” Let’s face it, “play date” is just another word for schizophrenia. “How’s your husband’s new job… Jimmy get down from there… That’s great he’s liking it… Janie don’t touch that… What time is he home?… You have to go to the bathroom now…?”

Seriously, I just want to play!

Have you been there? Are you there with me now? Well, mommas, I may have found an answer….

[Insert laser tag!]

Thanks to Groupon, I found CMP Tactical Lazer Tag Des Moines. I had no prior experience with any form of gun and I pretty much suck at video games, but I am all for a competition. Go Big or Go Home! We played a total of five different missions, all of which were a varying form of capture the flag. It took me until the second mission to actually shoot someone, which turned out to be my teammate Pat, but still….

Two kid-free hours spent with my husband and dear friends enjoying some friendly competition was all it took to take me back to the blissful age of seven. Where play was fun – not stressful, not awkward, not complicated or exhausting. Just some good ole fashion, laugh til your face hurts, FUN. I definitely need to do that more often!

What about you? Where do you play? What do you do that is FUN for you?

Disclaimer: I was not paid by CMP Tactical Lazer Tag for this post. If you do plan to try it out, call ahead to schedule a time. Also be sure to wear closed-toe shoes and clothes you can comfortably move around in.