Tom Werner/Getty ImagesAs a little kid, I remember whining to my mother that I was bored and asking her to play. Her answer was always simple: “I don’t play, but if you want to snuggle and read or do a craft, we can.” Recently, I asked my mom about this, and she laughed. “Playing Barbies was like torture to me.”I never took her boundary as a lack of love or attention, especially because she was always willing to engage in her own form of play, which included crafting, baking, snuggling, and reading. I knew if I wanted someone to play with, I had to ask a sibling, figure out how to entertain my...