Listening to kids play can sometimes be pretty revealing. That being said, I don't really think that I like what these pretend playtimes sometimes reveal. Here, let me give you a few examples: The other day, A. noticed a dirty spot on the bathroom floor as she's doing her business on the potty. After she calls me into the bathroom to show me, I told her that I was going to get something to clean it and start to walk away. "I'll clean it when I get finished with the potty" she called after me. Umm, okay. Then she asked me to bring her the green spray bottle (it's soapy water, for the stove) and a paper towel. I'm not really sure I believe that A. will voluntarily clean the bathroom floor, with soapy water and a paper towel, no less. But I got her the goods anyways, and then stand back and watch her squat to the ground and began spraying away. "I think I'm going to need another paper towel." She remarked. So I got her a couple more. Well now, that was fun, I thought. But A. is not done. Next I heard her telling me that she was cleaning some spot of who-knows-what off the side of the pantry door. S. approached and inquired A. about her activity. To which A. replied, "I'm cleaning. Because mama needs to clean." Ouch. I'm not exactly sure what she meant by that, but I'm not sure that it was good. Like, is she saying that she's cleaning because mama needs help cleaning; or, she's cleaning because mama isn't cleaning the way she should be. By the way, I cleared out and reorganized their closet that afternoon, so it's not like I'm a complete slacker. Just a little bit of one. Okay, maybe a lot. Whatever. Things get done. S. was apparently "daddy" (who is 10-ft tall) and A. was the baby: A (pretend crying): Wah! You don't care about me anymore! A: Wah! But you don't care about me! S (a little more emphatically): I'm right here. A: **you get the picture by now, I'm sure**. S (yelling): I'M RIGHT HERE! I'm not sure what this means either. Maybe if I were a professional psycho- I mean, psychiatrist, I could decode the subliminal message word by precious word (btw, I'm kidding about the psychiatrist bit. It's a joke. I like psychiatrists, really I do.) But I'm not. I'm just your run-of-the-mill psycho (haha, kidding about that, too!) so I have no idea what, if there even is one, the subliminal message communicates. Maybe this is a good thing. A. was crying out of insecurity, and S. was trying to give her assurance by announcing her physical and emotional presence. Thus, indicating that the girls have a positive image of their relationship with their dad. It sounds good, anyways. However, as nice as that is, that's kind of unfair, don't you think? I'm the slacker mom and he's the hero… I suppose I should start increasing the activity of my household duties. And I should make sure that A. sees it. And then maybe the next time she wants to clean the whole house she'll say, "I'm cleaning like mama. She's such a great cleaner. She's my domestic goddess" instead of, "mama needs to get on the ball (or off the computer, rather) and clean some more". Yeah, that'll happen.
I'm just sayin'.
Later, in that very same evening, they were playing in their room although they should have been sleeping.
S: I'm right here (she even deepened her voice. Wild.).
04 October 2007
Pretend play
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
saw this on babycenter and thought it might help...
Your preschooler may start initiating some of his own routines now. Part of this process is a reflection of his growing self-esteem: He's proud of what he can do on his own. Self-esteem comes from a sense of belonging, and a belief that he's capable of cleaning up his bookshelf, for instance. You can encourage more independence and self-esteem by continuing to praise him, and telling him how happy it makes you when he initiates these routines (which means you don't have to nag!).
So just hink of A as well adjusted with a great self esteem. You had a hand in that, no worries. :)
Post a Comment