Who Are You?

As a child, I had an impressive imagination.  In fact, I still do.  As most of my readers who know us well know, my eldest daughter has taken on not only her father's physical attributes, but a lot of his idiosyncrasies, as well.  One of them, I thought, was her penchant for reality.  I was, however, reminded today, of her absolutely wonderful childish trait for make-believe that we all have somewhere within!


On her first birthday, we bought M the uber chair from pottery barn.  with her name monogrammed in.   she loved it for months, even years, but recently (as in the last seven to eight months), it has really just taken up valuable space in our ever shrinking house.  But today, i was reminded of one of my favorite things about this chair- that it is never really a chair at all.  At least it wasn't for years after she first received it, and then today, it came out of hiding (as much as in the corner of her own bedroom would be a hiding spot- but under swaths of clothing, i guess anything could be lost).  She turned it up on its side this morning, and turned it into her magician's stand, "disappearing" objects that we, the audience, provided.  With the swipe of a magic wand (actually a too-long dowel for a 3-year-old), the object went flying from her platform, i.e. disappearing!  After that (hours after), she turned the chair upside down and climbed to the top of "Triangle Mountain!"  She then "ski'd" down the other side.  She also "explored the dark caves" underneath the mountain, in which she found many treasures (like my spatulas, whisks, and her own plastic cups.)  After another long amount of time, her chair magically turned into a cage to keep the wild beast (a.k.a. the baby) at bay while we ate dinner.  (on a side note- i was both happy and panicked at the same time to see how happy the baby was with the newfound chair.  this could only mean that in three months, i would be purchasing another monogrammed uber chair for another first birthday.)


As much as i love to play with my children, i have to admit that i sometimes more enjoy taking the onlooker's approach and watching what transpires.  I was ecstatic today to learn that beneath the facts and rules that M lives by, my little girl still has an amazing imagination!  I was thrilled to see the baby enjoying something i hadn't even thought about in months.  But mostly, i was just amazed at what kids can make out of nothing at all.  A chair, a dowel, a spatula and a whisk turned into about five or six straight hours of play.  It brought such a warmness to my heart, reminding me of my own flights or fancy as a child- stories of which, i am sure, you will hear another day!