Let's Play!

My favorite playtime as a child involved creating great scenes for storytelling. I would spend hours setting the stage. The mosses and rocks in my front yard were my favorite tools. I would carve out rivers and valleys and line them with the blue rocks that had fallen from our (believe-it-or-not) blue-pebbled roof. The moss would create intricate landscapes in which my sister’s Star Wars characters arranged themselves. My mother finally gave up trying to collect her spoons back from our natural masterpieces and bought a new set.

Although, I fondly remember the comforting feeling this focused play gave me as I worked to build each story, I find that watching my children play brings me an even greater delight.

I love that from the moment that William could crawl towards a door he would open and close it. A wee babe, he would open and shut, open and shut, open and shut any door or cabinet he could inch towards. To this day, his play fascinates me. He wants to know how things work. His favorite play space is the floor. He is very fair towards all of his toys and seems to give them all equal time. I love seeing the choices he makes each morning. Which special police car or fire truck made it into his precious hands? Is it an airplane or series of monster trucks? Who will he ask to bring with us on our morning drive?

In the evening, you can probably find him surrounded by a train track or at the completion of a Lincoln log jail with traps in place. If it’s a Lego set, you can’t pull him away from it until it is complete. He’ll sit for hours working through each step or work without instructions and create house after house and vehicle after vehicle. His intricacy, symmetry and attention to detail are mind-boggling.

His sister Abby delights in caring for her stuffed animals and dolls. She loves to change their outfits by the hour to make sure they are appropriately prepared for each moment of their day. She’ll also take time to create new clothes for them. It started with mermaid tails made of paper. Her animals were beautifully adorned with tails of every color. I wish I had a picture. Then one day when I was sick, she threw a Hello Kitty Party for me to make me feel better. Called to the living room, I found each of her stuff animals adorned with a special Hello Kitty mask and special masks made for her brother William, his lovey Lion, and for me. What a party we had. For Halloween, each of her Barbies had specially crafted costumes, from a tiger to a bluebird to a puppydog. I think there were eight in all. Inspired by a Christmas gift from her Aunt Sarah that included a lesson on sewing through owl pillow making, Abby transitioned to fabric costumes, creating a beautiful new purple gown for her Sofia doll with two buttons no less.

If she’s not changing a dolls outfit or creating costumes or accessories, you can find Abby in the art room (originally our dining room) in all sorts of creative activities. She might be painting, she might be creating a bracelet, or she might be creating a beaded butterfly for a backpack. What I love about her sweet heart is that when she is working on these projects it is most likely with someone else in mind. It’s for her friend Emiko, who she still misses since she transitioned schools two years ago, or perhaps it’s for Caitlin, a sweet friend who we never see enough of. She’s drawing a picture of Isa in a beautiful blue gown or her godsister Ella in green. Maybe she’s made something for me or for her daddy, but I can promise you, every project she works on, she’s thinking of someone else. That makes my heart feel really good, and I’m glad to see that it brings her such joy as well.

There are certain things that Andrew and I strive to teach our children. We have great hopes for them. And although I have worked to provide playful activities for my children and encourage them, I did not teach my children any of these arts of play. These explorations, this creativity, their abilities are unique to their little selves. It is exciting to imagine what these strong focuses and interests might lead to one day.

I can see how my own childhood playfulness has transitioned to part of my adulthood. By trade, I have become a storyteller. I still continue to set the stage so that a fascinating and inspiring story can be told. It may be that I’m prepping a magazine, a webpage, a brochure or a presentation, each crafted with the same precision, care and embellishment that I approached each moss creation as a child. Realizing those playful connections, it makes me want to encourage my children even more to take that time to play, to explore, and to grow because I know it will stay with them and that connection will continue to bring them joy.

For now, I’m thankful that they find happiness in play, that they are able to find focus, that they are able to find success at the completion of a project, and that they also enjoy sharing these gifts with others. William always wants to invite others into his world of play as well as to help others through whatever challenges they find themselves facing. “Come, play with me,” he says. Abby always wants to give to others and bring them joy. “Here, I made this for you,” sweet Abby says with a smile.

So I say, bring on the moss, rocks, and spoons! Encourage the construction paper mermaid tails with string! Champion the Legos made with pattern or by pure ingenuity! Let them play! Let them play! Let them play!

With Love and Light,

LT