Take today, for example. In just a few short hours, Josiah was...
~ a guitarist and singer in a band
~ a doctor checking his stuffed puppy's heart
~ and taking his stuffed puppy's temperature
~ and giving his stuffed puppy a shot~ a cook, specializing in cakes (ready in 10 seconds or less!)--I "ate" chocolate cake, strawberry cake, coconut cake, lemon cake, and grape pie, all within the span of about 5 minutes--Mommy's got to play along with the games, after all!
~ a statue--I'm not sure where he got this idea, but he LOVES to pretend that he's a statue--he'll come up with these crazy poses, usually involving his chin in his hands, and he'll hold the pose until I make him smile or laugh
~ a barber, riding away to work on his tricycle, going onto the porch and cutting hair furiously, then returning home to proudly announce how many haircuts he did today
~ Lentil, a harmonica-playing boy (from the book Lentil by Robert McCloskey)
~ a hunter, looking for robbers upstairs
He's quite a busy boy!!! :)
That last role that Josiah played has got me puzzled--the latest in my chain of parental dilemmas! I love how free and creative Josiah has been in his pretending, but recently he has pretended to be looking for bad guys and pretended to be scared of certain things (like his closet, for example) because of the bad guys he might find there. I think he really is pretending and is not genuinely afraid of those things because of the silly manner in which he is play-acting; but I also think it may be even an unconscious action on his part to deal with some real fears that he may have. However, the dilemma is this. When Josiah does this, David picks up on it and gets genuinely scared. David always gets roped into the role of "partner in finding imaginary criminals"; and, while Josiah seems able to play that game and then put it behind him, David doesn't understand what's going on enough to separate fantasy and fact. I wonder...should I simply ban Josiah from pretending in this way? what if it really is his way of dealing with unspoken fears? how do I protect David's little mind and heart through all of this?
1 comment:
I know I don't have boys...but from observing my girls, I have found this: The more creative and imaginative Charis is...the younger Selah started to understand what imaginary play was. And we're not just talking about playing house. They routinely get eaten by lions and have to find the bad people/animals to kill. (WHERE do they get this stuff?) Selah, now, is very brave--fearless even (sometimes too much for me!)...and has no issues with any of their play time. But from what I remember, she did get a little upset at first. And when she did, I'd ask Charis to settle down a bit. In the end, as I have let them sort of find their own balance, it's all worked out. And Selah (who I guess learned from me) will tell Charis to stop every once in a while...when it gets too overwhelming for her.
so there you have it, my 2 cents worth. :D
Post a Comment