Playing Possum

Today, I'm sharing one of my favorite phrases with you. It's called playing possum. That doesn't mean crawling on all fours and going through peoples trash cans. Neither does it mean carrying your babies on your back or standing in the middle of the street staring at oncoming cars. 

Possum playing in trash.

Possum carrying babies on back.

I imagine you would be surprised if I were to tell you that you have very likely played possum yourself. 

Would you like to know what it actually means? 

Have you ever pretended to be asleep to fool your parents or pretending to be dead when you were playing with friends? 

Possum "playing possum."

Many creatures play possum. It is a protective tactic that possums use so that predators will leave them alone. They pretend to be dead so other dangerous animals would leave them alone. 

Cat "playing possum."

I used to play possum to make my parents think I was asleep. The reason I did that is that I could then get out my favorite book of the moment and read far past my bedtime. I spent most of my childhood sleepy in class because I wanted to read all the time​!