May 22, 2012  |  8:53am
Princess Feeds the World
Beth: [age 3] "Let's play 'Princess Feeds the World'."
Me: "Hmm. I've never played that before. You'll have to tell me what to do."
Beth: "It's easy! You sit down in that chair and I'll stand over here. This --" [gestures to middle of the room] "-- is the world."
Me: [sits] "Okay. Now what do I do?"
Beth: "You are the Sunshine King. I am the Water Princess. So first we have fly around the world and throw seeds over the ground, like this." [tiptoes gracefully around the room, scattering imaginary seeds onto the floor]
Me: "Can I do that?"
Beth: "Open your hand. ... Here are some seeds." [drops imaginary seeds into my hand] "Now, plant them!"
Me: [attempts to imitate graceful movements around the room]
Beth: "Oh Daddy. Really. No. Not like that at all. Like THIS." [repeats what she did earlier]
Me: "I thought that's what I was doing."
Beth: "You were doing it wrong. Just sit down and let me do it."
[she continues hovering around the room, scattering seed, for a minute or two]
Beth: "Okay. Now we need to water the seeds."
Me: "Can I do that?"
Beth: "No, you are the Sunshine King. A Sunshine King cannot make rain. Only a Water Princess can make rain. Like this." [puts hands behind her back and flutters around the room, passing over the scattered imaginary seeds] "There. I watered the plants with rain."
Me: "Now what?"
Beth: "Now you shine on them."
Me: "How do I do that?"
Beth: "You're a Sunshine King! All Sunshine Kings know how to shine. Just do it!"
Me: "Okay, okay. I'll try." [I get up, put my hands out, and move around the room trying to look like I'm beaming sunrays toward the imaginary seeds]
Me: "How's that?"
Beth: "It's not bad. Do it again. They need more."
Me: [repeats]
Beth: "Stop. That's enough. Now sit down and wait with me."
Me: [sits] "How long do we have to wait?"
Beth: "Until the plants grow."
Me: "Okay. I'm going to talk a sunshine nap. You let me know when they're done." [leans back, closes eyes]
Beth: [waits a minute, then grabs my arm] "Look! They're ready!"
Me: [opens eyes] "Great! So what did we plant?"
Beth: "We have corn and tomatoes and lettuce and carrots. Now we just have to pick everything and give it to the world to eat!"
Me: "Is this enough for the whole world?"
Beth: "Of course it is! As long as you don't eat too much. Now help me pick it or you don't get any."
URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJZiexLxDZzc   |  SHARE:
Filed under: princess imagination imaginary game seed seeds plant planting harvest food world eat sunshine water rain royalty kids girls dads fathers fatherhood fathering parents parenting parenthood child children childhood
March 2, 2012  |  9:00am
Samantha and time and flowers
[Scene: Beth, age 3, is talking about an imaginary friend named Samantha]
Beth: "My friend Samantha sent me this card." [holds up colored paper]
Me: "That's very nice of her."
Beth: "I think we should ask Samantha to visit us sometime."
Me: "Sure. Does she live around here?"
Beth: "Oh, she doesn't live here now."
Me: "Where does she live?"
Beth: "She doesn't live here now. She doesn't live in February. She lives in April."
Me: "I don't understand."
Beth: "She doesn't live in February. We have to wait until April to see her. She makes up her own days and months so she always has long weekends and lots of time to play."
Me: "That sounds pretty cool, actually."
Beth: "Yeah, she's pretty cool."
Me: "So, we'll see her in April."
Beth: "Yes."
Me: "Does she live by herself?"
Beth: "Oh no. She has 14 parents! Moms and dads and grandpas and grandmas."
Me: "Wow, that's a lot of people."
Beth: "Yes. She has 20 moms, 2 dads, and 8 grandpas and 8 grandmas."
Me: "All in one house?"
Beth: "Yes. They have a big house."
Me: "Is Samantha going to bring all those people when she visits?"
Beth: "No, they're too busy."
Me: "That's good. I don't think we could fit them all in here. So what should we do when Samantha is here? What does she like?"
Beth: "Samantha likes the color of the sky. So we'll look at the sky a lot."
Me: "Sure, if the weather is nice."
Beth: "Samantha also likes bubbles and flowers."
Me: "Those are all good things."
Beth: "You'd better buy some flowers before she comes."
Me: "Okay. But we can wait until just before she gets here. If we buy them now, they'll die before she arrives."
Beth: "Then you can buy flowers now, for me."
URL: http://tmblr.co/ZJZiexHK_CMR   |  SHARE:
Filed under: imaginary imagination friends visit time months days april february flowers bubbles sky colors visit grandma grandpa moms dads family house girls kids dads child children childhood parents parenting parenthood fathers