5 Star Spa

Oh, my daughter inspires laughter from me on an almost daily basis. Her imagination has always been one of my most admired qualities about her. I faintly remember being so creative and imaginative myself at her age. What happened? I wonder what age I was when I started to channel my imagination and creativity into craft things instead of imaginative play.

I'm ashamed to say this, but playing pretend games with my daughter is my least favorite activity to do with her. I love snuggling on the couch, I'll read to her, I don't mind dressing Barbies, I'll babysit for her dolls all day long, or suggest, "Let's play a board game!". But I honestly groan whenever she says, "Okay, mommy. Let's pretend I'm your sister and we're orphans. Our parents were killed in a bad boat accident. And we are searching for buried treasure on the island that we are stuck on. Pretend the bed is the boat, okay? You can't get off or the alligators will eat you! And you need to say, "Sister! Watch out for the alligators! They're coming!" and then you say, "Oh dear, I hope we find some land soon." And you were a princess, but you didn't know it, okay?"

Um.... what was I supposed to say again? She lost me back on the "Let's pretend..." I just can't keep up with the script!

But sometimes I really don't mind imaginative play with her.

I walked downstairs a few days ago to find this:


"What's all this?" I ask.

"Oh, its just my 5 Star Spa and 5 Star Restaurant. Do you want to come in for a treatment?"


I laugh. "Where on earth did you learn about things being "5 Star"?"

"From Spongebob."

Well, okay then :)

I lay down on the "massaging table" after Jaina quickly shows me how to lay:


I was treated to a wonderful back and shoulder massage by a 5 Star masseuse.

Then she showed me where to sit for the fabulous hair style I was about to receive:


Sorry, no pictures of my hair. Let's just suffice it to say it was most definitely "5 Star".

Thanks again, Jaina. I'll be happy to play this pretend game anytime :)

What pretend games do your kids like to play?

Comments

  1. My almost 9 year old loves to play "store" She will set up all these toys and items for sale (make a huge mess LOL) and put little price tags on them (that end up all over the floor) and then I come through to "buy" things. One day I gave her pretend money and she wanted REAL money! LOL...I don't think so, I already bought all that stuff once. :)

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  2. She is so cute! I agree...playing "pretend" is a hard game for me too. I am amazed by the imagination of a child...I'm sad that it goes away when they get older.

    Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog...I always like to find new blogs to read, so I'll be checking back!

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  3. We're still learning about pretend here. C gets into major monster play when he is here and he looses me like that.

    I had Jaina's imagination at her age. I even had alligators under my bed. The problem is I STILL have alligators under my bed. It's the only reason I wear socks in the dark.

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  4. Jessie, you are such a great writer, that is a creative talent right there. I can't remember long enough to even remember what my kids say.

    I used to play crazy Barbie's and have crazy stories about Skipper running away from mom, who was single because Ken, who was a pilot, ran off from the family.....

    Joshua used to play Pirate's with me on the couches,with Alligator's and all. Now it's space ships constructed from pillows on the couch, with Magna Droids and everything else... he's too smart for me to remember everything he says.

    I remember being more imaginative as a child. I didn't have too many craft resources, except for occasional clay, crayon, glue, paper dolls, mud, water, a hose, the dog, .... outside stuff. We weren't allowed in the house during the day, so the outdoors became our world.

    Imagination holds the key to so many fascinating doors, your lucky to have such a bright child.


    Now, if only we could get the kids to concentrate in school and on their tests.

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  5. Just recently, I played my first pretend game with Ian! I'm planning to blog about it...but Jason recently attached a steering wheel on Ian's new playground. Everytime we get up in the fort now, he pretends to drive us to Mere's (my mom's house) and then he'll look back at me and ask me where to go next. Then, when we're done going different places, he "drives" us back to our house. It is SO cute!

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  6. Yes, I can see how getting pampered with 5 Star treatment during pretend play is much more tolerable than pretending your an orphan! I'd keep encouraging that! :) Thanks for finding me, Jess.

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  7. Too funny. I think Madeline would have a lot of fun with Jaina.

    The other day Madeline told me we were going to play poor.

    "What do you mean 'poor?'" I asked.

    "You know, we're poor. We pretend we don't have any food or money."

    Fortunately, she quickly found a stash of priceless gems, so we could eat. If only the solution to poverty was that simple... :)

    Love the new look of your blog; I hadn't left Google Reader in awhile.

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  8. Braewyn loves playing waitress. She walks around the house holding a scrap of paper and pen, asking anyone she can find, "Chicken? Tea?" Those are usually the only two items on the menu. Philip loves superheroes and especially Transformers. I wish we could get he and Brian together because I think even Brian would be impressed with Philip's transforming abilities!

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