Tot School [Tuesday] - Volume 19

Steve would be proud!

Having begun loosely structuring a few Tot School activities since my last lament, I've noticed a trend.  Some of L'il Man's minimal amount of  whining he does can be attributed to "Mom, I'm bored!"  He has always been so good at playing by himself, that this hadn't entered my mind as a possible contributor.  Refocusing him on a task when we hit one of those zones has increased the level of peacefulness in our day.  (Gee. One would be surprised I'd had five children at that comment, huh?  Shouldn't I know this by now?  LOL)

This morning, we've hit a major milestone!

Pretend Time!

L'il Man was playing quietly beside me, cutting play dough with a butter knife.  Out of the clear blue, he spoke, whilst pushing the play dough container, heaped with play dough to the rim, toward me:

"Coffee, Mom?  Coffee?"

Stunned at his offer, I accepted it graciously and with fanfare!  "Oooooo!  Delicious coffee!" as I 'drank' it down.  At this he giggled with delight, then turned his head away ever so coyly, knowing his 'pretend' moment was noticed.

Within twenty minutes, he had moved on.  This time, he was playing with a nerf football, tossing it about the house.  Soon, he was calling out to me for help.  As I moved toward him, I could see the football on a bookshelf, but well within his reach.  I quizzically asked him about it.

In reply, he began barking and whining like a dog - Annie Hall to be exact - while placing his "paws" up on the shelf ledge and looking at the ball hungrily.

He was pretending to be Annie Hall the dog!!!

Oh. my. gosh!!

Do I recall the moment when my other children began to 'pretend play' so openly?  I tell the truth, I do not . . . it just became part of the rythym of their playfulness.

Today I noticed the entry of developed, thought out pretend play by Keller St. John.

Oh, the wonder and delight of it all!  :D