I'm sure we're all familiar with them.
Simon Says and Mother May I.
For us here in the lifestyle, I dont think we've given them much of a thought outside of our formative years. Just silly games we played to pass the time (time that we wish we had back, in most cases).
But a silly thought struck me this morning about the games, how we play, and how they've affected us in our adult lives. How have they groomed us, specifically s types, for the tasks we face day to day?
Alright, so they're simple. Simon says: "_______", Mother may I "____", and off we go. Super easy! But it can get a little more complicated (what, these are kids games, whats so complicated about them??), and we often disregard the deeply ingrained rule of Simon says and the utter simplicity of Mother May I. Complex chain commands can throw us for a loop and get us eliminated from the game, and not asking for permission from Mother has a lasting effect.
I know, I know: "Amdis, where the fuck are you going with this, make your point!"
I got this.
My point about Simon and Mother (and we capitalize, clearly, cause they're the D types in this scenario) is that these games actually may have been more relevant to us s types than we think. As relevant as children's games can be, mind you.
But think about the premise. Simon says do a thing and you do a thing. Simon doesn't say, and...we don't! Same thing for Mother May I, only a bit of reversal here. Asking Mother and either you are allowed or you aren't. Done deal.
Placing it in the context of us lovely s types is simple from there. Sir/Daddy/Master (or whomever your D type) says to do something and we do it. If they didn't say, well, we get punished. A bit more severely than in the game, sure, but this is real life after all! As for Mother, we are asking to be allowed to do something and hope desperately for our Yes. Sometimes Mother doesn't allow it though and we all know Mother knows best.
Us lowercasers understand the command hierarchy, though sometimes I'm sure we'd rather stuff marshmallows in Daddy's mouth than actually listen to what he has to say. But we get it. We do our best to perform whatever command we're given to the best of our ability and try to listen to constructive criticism when we don't. Sometimes its a little harder when asking permission for something, you're given a no, and you don't always understand why.
So, I guess in a way, Simon and Mother were actually teaching us something way back in the playground days though we never knew it at the time.
Bear with me here, I know this is a stretch.
They taught us perseverance. The sticktoitiveness that all of us stubborn s types seem to embody so well. If you don't succeed, you try again and you get better with practice.
We were taught how to follow rules. Basically, if you don't have permission, you can't do it.( Yes, for the sake of brevity, I'm oversimplifying; get over it.) At first we get pissy and want to think they're bending the rules and they're being SO mean. Why can't we do the thing?? We WANT to do the thing, why can't we do it? [Don't do the thing, its a trap!] But we eventually come to understand a bit better how the game(s) work and use it, more often than not, to our advantage. You gotta soften them up sometimes, right? RIGHT!
We learned how to LISTEN. Not just hear what we want to hear, but actually listen. Simon says hands up, hands down. *hands go up, hands come down* You're out! Simon didn't say hands down. I'd personally argue that since it was in the same sentence it still counts, but I'm stubborn that way.
However, more than anything, I think they taught us patience. We had to learn the rules. We had to struggle a bit and go through a period of "what the fuck do you mean , I'm out! Simon said!" until we got to the end. We learned to wait our turn, even if Mother didn't approve of the steps we were taking, maybe she would allow us some big ones on the next go round.
In the D/s respect, patience can be a huge deciding factor. Do we always understand why they don't want us to do something? No, fuck, of course not! But there ARE reasons, some of them just to reinforce the things that Simon and Mother taught us. And, as long as you're in a HEALTHY dynamic, we can usually be assured that their decisions are for the best. We don't have to trust them blindly and not question them, but we give them decision making capabilities over us for a reason and should respect the choices they make. Hell, have a conversation about it, just don't throw a tantrum cause you can't have another tub of cotton candy.
I know its a silly, off the wall topic for this morning and half of you (on my side of the world) probably aren't awake enough to tolerate my ramblings this morning and for that I apologize. Hopefully its not as stupid a concept as it reads, but if it is.. HAHA, I stole minutes of your life you can't get back! Nyahahaaa!
In any case
Simon says: Have a good day.
