A fun party game is asking crazy ‘what if’ questions and creating playful, entertaining answers. Questions like, “What if unicorns are real,” or “What if you could surf on sand?” However, ‘what if’ questions can become a problem internally when your inner Chatterbox starts asking them from a place of fear.
Yet, asking ‘what if’ can be a good thing if you try to come up with a practical answer and not let the question fill you up with fear. Another version of the ‘what if’ game is played with children and their carers, helping kids to work through their worries. The game works like this: a parent asks a real-life question, such as “what if the house catches on fire during the night?” Then the parent helps the child come up with a good solution, such as “I would pop-out the window screen and climb out the window and meet you by the mailbox.” Another example, “What if we are in a big store and we can’t find each other?” The answer is “I find the help counter or the cashier to help me find you.”
This is a great tool to help younger kids understand that in any situation, there is a practical way that they can handle it. It can be a good tool for adults too. “What if I lose my job?” The answer might be “I take a deep breath then work on my resume and start looking for a new job. If I don’t find one right away, I could take a temporary job and cut back on expenses.” Another example could be, “What if it rains on the day of my outdoor party?” The answer could be, “We’ll bring part of it inside and set up large umbrellas for the overflow outside.”
Even if you are ‘what if-ing’ a really dire scenario—”What if my child gets cancer?” The answer could be, “I will do everything I can to get them the best health care I can and will support them and cherish them through the ordeal.”
In any of these “what if” scenarios, it always comes down to Susan’s favorite tool—understanding that no matter what happens, “I’ll handle it!”