Getting Natalie ready for a bath last night, she suddenly turned to me and said, "I'm Swiper. You're Dora."
"Ok," I said, turning back to check the water temperate. Then, I quickly spun back around to face her. When did she start playing pretend?
Oh, I've done little bits of pretend play with her since she was a baby – making her dolls and stuffed animals talk to her, ordering delicious meals from her play kitchen, giving her horsey rides around the living room. But never, never has she instigated it.
It brought me back to the hundreds of hours I spent playing pretend with my sister, Nikki. We turned Happy Meal boxes into tiny houses for plastic characters and carried on story lines for days. We created little dogs and cats on flying rugs out of construction paper and pulled them behind us on innumerable adventures. We pretended to be lions, dogs, moms, babies …. the list goes on.
And now it starts with Natalie. That ever exciting world of pretend play that only requires an active imagination and the desire to have fun.
"Ok, Swipey. Off you go, into the tub." I told her with a serious look on my face.
Natalie hesitated, scanning my face for answers. Was mom really playing along? Does she really think I'm Swiper?
"Now it's time to wash your little Swipey face," I continued, a tiny smile parting my lips. "And your little Swiper hair."
She's never sat so still in the tub.
"Ok," I said, turning back to check the water temperate. Then, I quickly spun back around to face her. When did she start playing pretend?
Oh, I've done little bits of pretend play with her since she was a baby – making her dolls and stuffed animals talk to her, ordering delicious meals from her play kitchen, giving her horsey rides around the living room. But never, never has she instigated it.
It brought me back to the hundreds of hours I spent playing pretend with my sister, Nikki. We turned Happy Meal boxes into tiny houses for plastic characters and carried on story lines for days. We created little dogs and cats on flying rugs out of construction paper and pulled them behind us on innumerable adventures. We pretended to be lions, dogs, moms, babies …. the list goes on.
And now it starts with Natalie. That ever exciting world of pretend play that only requires an active imagination and the desire to have fun.
"Ok, Swipey. Off you go, into the tub." I told her with a serious look on my face.
Natalie hesitated, scanning my face for answers. Was mom really playing along? Does she really think I'm Swiper?
"Now it's time to wash your little Swipey face," I continued, a tiny smile parting my lips. "And your little Swiper hair."
She's never sat so still in the tub.
1 comment:
how very precious. and a great calming, tool, too! who would've guessed?
amanda, please make this blog into a book somehow. i love reading your work.
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