Penning Photography Daily

What to do when all the extended family is over, it’s too cold to go outside to play, and you want some down time by yourself?

Pull out the iPad and play a game. That’s what my nephew Charlie is doing here.

Everyone is clustered around an activity. There’s a group playing card games in the dining room, another group of nieces and nephews playing in the basement, folks in the kitchen, preparing to make some dessert, and many adults and a couple other of Charlie’s peers crashed out on the couch watching a Christmas movie.

None of that was drawing him in. He grabbed his mom’s iPad and fired up a game or two or three, one after the other, moving on to the next as the previous one lost his interest, I presume.

He was hearing all the peanut gallery comments we were flinging at the movie actors, adding our own enhanced commentary to the screen action. Occasionally I would see him laugh at something one of us had said, as he carried on his training.

Hand-eye coordination, solving puzzles and otherwise stimulating the brain while taking a break from engaging in group activities. Learning and having some fun, while in the midst of family. No one was offended by his solitary play. He was part of the family gathering.

There’s more than one way to be together.