3.22.2011

minding the unruly

Dear Melissa,


The other day I got the chance to preview the galleys for fantastic Joel Henrique's upcoming book, Made to Play. They were awesome (he is a genius, by the way), and I can't wait to get my hands on the actual book. This was one of the ideas we played with immediately that couldn't be simpler: draw stick figures, cut fabric clothes, play. I would say that we got a good twenty minutes out of this activity, which is saying something for the four year old.


Speaking of which: my social little four year old has absolutely no desire to ever, ever, ever play by herself. When I put her in quiet time, she would rather stand by the door waiting for me to come get her (shouting, "is quiet time over yet?" every thirty seconds) than entertain herself. Consequently we do not do quiet time very much any more because all that yelling from her makes me feel grumpy.


This is in stark contrast to the seven year old, who very much like your seven year old, is kind of like a child MacGyver. She can find a baby wipe and a spaghetti noodle under the table in the kitchen and in seconds devise an exciting game that most likely has to do with greek mythology, romantic love, and looking at herself in the mirror (her three favorite things right now) and we won't see her for hours. If I'm really lucky the four year old might get assigned a small role in this game (say, as the spaghetti noodle holder in the corner), which starts out being a great thing but then usually ends up with the four year old yelling: "but I wanted to be the mom!" (reflecting a serious misunderstanding of the game, which infuriates her sister even more).

Oh well. Lots of love,

Lynne


11 comments:

Unknown said...

No 1 child never played by himself. EVER. He's 10
No 2 child sometimes did. Mostly he draws or annoys his brothers.
No 3 child spends hours talking to himself in his bedroom/garden/bathroom.

Conclusion? children are like a lottery, you never know what you get.

Unknown said...

Monica, SO TRUE!!!!

Unknown said...

ha, ha, ha! I think my seven-year old would love to play the spaghetti/wipey/romantic game with your seven-year old. That is too hilarious! I kills me. By the way, the stick figures with fabric are brilliant. I've got to try that!

melissa said...

Yes, I agree with what Brad said...

Liz R. said...

fun idea! we love the imagination and games #2 brings to our house. one time all of the dolls had been hung bc of bad choices they had made. wonder what she learned in school that day...never a dull moment!

Unknown said...

liz, we often require our children to execute their toys, finding that it sends a firmer message than time out.

just kidding. oh my gosh, i am so embarrassed that she was hanging your dolls! i have nothing to say for my deranged progeny.

Liz R. said...

no worries. it was funny. anna looked at me and just shrugged her shoulders.

Unknown said...

Liz - that is a scene straight from the Horrible Histories books that we buy for our children, now that I think about it! What a horrible parent I am! I wonder what she says at school. Good thing I don't know. :)

Liz R. said...

U r a great parent! And I just giggle when I think abt all those dolls hanging from the bedpost by shoelaces ;)

Suzanne Cranston said...

love! these letters to and fro... very entertaining...like a really, really good book!
p.s. and the bit about the spaghetti, too true! I have three children and two out of three could play solo...not my first born...oh no...!

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