28 November 2007

Imagination running wild

I think one of the neatest things about being a parent is watching my children go through all the stages of development that I just took for granted as an adult -- learning to smile and laugh, playing jokes, responding to scary noises, etc. It's all stuff that I've just always known how to do, as far as I know. It has been so much fun to observe the processes develop from the beginning.
Within the last couple of months, Annalivia has been doing lots of imagining. She can entertain herself for a good, long amount of time with her dolls or Little People or having big conversations, doing all sorts of motions, and running to and fro with her imaginary companions. Sometimes in the morning, she informs me that Kipper and Tiger, Pig and Arnold are here. Or she pretends to have long phone conversations with Uncle Jake or cousin Cleya. Or she practices saying things that she has heard her parents say to pretend people and will come up to me and say things like, "It'll be a couple of minutes, Mommy."
I love to just watch this happening. I try not to enter into the play unless invited and then I try to extract myself pretty quickly so the play can continue. I'm not sure whether that is an "officially approved" method of parenting. But my mother was kind enough to allow her children mental and physical space to explore our own little brains. And I'm grateful for it.
And it is just so delightful to me to discover how that little brain inside my daughter works. It's enchanting.
Playing in the curtains this morning
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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

:) I LOVE being a mum!

PS The pic is p.r.e.c.i.o.u.s. But then again your Bug is just too cute for words, anyway.

Unknown said...

You daughter looks exactly like the little girl on my box of dryer sheets I have decided. I smile every time I notice it.

j said...

I love your curtain! Did you make them?! They are fabulous! I want some of my own! (Of course, your little darling peeking out of them makes them even better!)

April said...

Dawn... :) Thank you, friend.

Susan... That is so sweet. And hilarious because I used to pray for a daughter that looked like the little girl on Downy when I was a kid.

Jill... They are batiked tablecloths I got from several different Ten Thousand Villages stores. Our local Mennonite thrift store in Eureka used to carry TTV items and I bought one there, one in Champaign, IL and one in Bloomington, IL. But I think any TTV store could special order them nowadays.

I just cut them down the middle. Didn't even hem them, though now I regret that a little, because they are beginning to fray. Glad you like them! I love them, too.

Melissa said...

Sweet! I love the face peeking through ;o)