imaginary play

No pictures with this post; it’s hard to get a picture of something invisible.

Mr. Imagination came in the house while I was cooking supper, cuddling something in his hand. He told me he had a baby kitten. I asked him where he found it. “Out in the paddock.”

“Did the mommy cat leave it?”

“It was in another cave.”

I asked what color it was. “Blue.”

I asked if it had to have a bottle or if it could drink out of a dish. “It still needs a bottle.” I pretended to give him a bottle, and he pretended to feed it to the kitten, making sucking noises with his mouth. Then, after he told me there were actually three kittens, I told him that after you feed a tiny kitten you have to wash its bottom with a warm wet cloth to help it poo. I thought that might faze him, but obviously it’s no problem with an invisible kitten!

The next problem was where to put the kittens to sleep. He wanted to put them under a light to keep them warm, like we do with chicks, turkeys and ducklings. I told him that kittens just need a hot water bottle with a clean dry cloth over it in a box. “Where is the clean cloth?” I told him to see if there was a pretend one on the coal range—sure enough, there was! “Where is the hot water bottle?” I pretended to give him one, and help him fill it, and then he found a pretend box.

Now he had the problem of where to put his kittens. I suggested in a quiet corner of his bedroom, so he trotted off—but was soon back. The kittens had woke up! I told him to take them back, but “Mew! Mew! They will wait for me!”  I suggested putting them on my rocking chair in the kitchen. “Oh, yes. They will not wait for me there!”

Then, when I called everyone to the table for supper, he brought his kittens along and started “feeding” them. A shred of meat went to the kittens…and into his mouth. A bit of bread—“They like the inside bread”—went to the kittens…and into his mouth.

I think he’s forgotten them now, an hour later, but it was awfully cute while it went on. I love being able to play along with him like that. It’s an easy way to connect with a three-year-old, and I don’t even have to stop what I’m doing to play with him. He is so much fun!

You may think you know what these are. However, I guarantee you are wrong (according to a person in our family!).

I was preparing some beans to eat a week or so ago, and my little helper with the big imagination came along wanting to help. He got himself a table knife, and started cutting the beans, saying, “I cut off the body. I cut off the head.” I asked him what he was cutting up and he informed me, very seriously, “Zebras.”

I know I’m posting a lot about this little one lately. This stage of life is so precious! I so much love watching them learn at this age, and it’s so fleeting!

I was taking a short break at the computer this afternoon, and he brought me a chunk of wood, saying, as he handed it to me, “Baby”. Then he took off for the door again. He came back dragging a large piece of wood. It turns out that the large piece is the mommy horse and the small one is the baby horse!

For other news, we have a house to move into. We signed the tenancy agreement on Saturday, and included that we will have the house for two years, at the end of which time we’ll reevaluate and decide if we want to stay on, buy it (which I suppose would be an option at any time, really—at this point we don’t have enough money and don’t think we want to stay in that location too long), or move somewhere else. Anyway, we have stability for two years. We plan to move on the 6th of September, assuming they get moved out by the end of August as they plan to. Sometime this week, the boys and I are planning to plant some blackcurrent bushes and rhubarb that we have in pots over there, and maybe we’ll get a few pictures. The place has a fascinating history that I’ll try to tell you some of when I post the pictures! It’s a beautiful old house. We are thankful and relieved to have this sorted out!

Our youngest, as I’ve mentioned before, has a very vivid imagination. One of his big things lately has been that there are lions in the house. He seems very fascinated, and a little scared, of his imaginary lions. The “baby lions” (pronounced yi-yuns), however, are a different story. Usually, they are invisible, cupped in his hand, and he’ll show them to you or let you cuddle them. Sometimes, depending on his mood, he’ll smash (hmash) them, then throw them away and get another. Where did such bloodthirstiness come from? I don’t know!

One day last week, he had a visible “baby lion”—this toy plastic goat! In the morning, he wrapped it up in a bunch of small cotton clothes we use for wet wipes, and played with it for quite awhile. After his afternoon nap, though, he couldn’t find it.  That was sad! He told me, very sorrowfully, “Yi-yun ate it.” (The big lion ate it.)

I remembered having seen it on a couch, however, so I told one of the older boys to go look for it. What a relief when it was found! He then located his pile of wipes again, wrapped up his “baby lion”, and all was right in his world again.

The baby lion, aka a goat, is wrapped up in that bundle of cloths.