Magic and Make Believe

Gillian gives me a lot of credit. She thinks I have magical powers and can conjure anything in the universe. When I point out a butterfly she says "More! More! PLEEEASE?!?". Or flowers. Or ants. Or helicopters. Or Airplanes. When another one crosses her line of vision she gets that satisfied little smile that says "I knew you could do it!" Really, she loves just about anything, and usually, the last thing she does as she watches these things travel out of sight is blow a kiss and tell whatever-it-was "bye-bye _____[fill in the blank]." Like the playground today, and every day. "Bye-bye playground!" with a amiable wave of her little hand. Then a kiss blown in the direction of the beloved swings.

Which brings me to the make-believe part. Today Gillian insisted that I push a Goldfish cracker in it's own swing. Not just one swing, but the one next to her. And she had to swing in every swing at the playground. So, we picked up the Goldfish and he got to swing on lots of swings like Gillian did. And she looked over to make sure he was swinging high enough and having a good time. Unfortunately for him, he didn't get a chance to express his gratitute before she ate him, but such is life.

When we don't have anything else to swing, she insists that I push all the swings at one time. Empty swings are friends too. Like many toddlers, Gillian has a great imagination and everything is alive, and her friend. (e.g., "Hi ants! (blow kiss)"). But the swing thing isn't the first time that has happened. Her ball, her shoe, her sippy cup, her Lamb, and her baby have had their own swings for months. Every one of them is alive to her, and it is endearing to see her attribute human qualities to things. This morning she was on the little horse at the playground and I showed her a ladybug, which fascinated her, until she kissed it and it disappeared in the mulch (knocked loose from its perch). Then she looked at me, quite solemnly, and whispered "More ladybug?"

When we read books, and she hears that one of the characters is sad (like Gossie the Gosling who loses her red boots that she likes to wear every day) she gets very empathetic and gives the character a kiss and strokes them gently. The first time I showed her that Gossie was sad and cried, she held the page from being turned for a long time looking and feeling sad for her. She is really quite fascinated by Happy and Sad right now. If she hears a baby crying she says "Baby Cry..." and points to her own eye. If she is crying, she seems not to differentiate what is happening and what she is making happen. She seems to stop, observe herself crying (as if it is happening to her and not that she is actually doing it herself), and mournfully says "Gilly cry..." At this moment, I suppose most kids don't have much control over their emotional reactions, but it is interesting to observe her reacting to her own sadness.

Imagination (besides general cuteness) has always made me love the young, so I watch her sometimes, transfixed by what she perceives as real or what she is pretending is real. I mean, it's obvious to her that when she takes a drink out of an empty cup or pretends to eat and says "Mmmmmm!" that she is pretending. I just wonder where the line is between real and imaginary for her. My favorite part of her imagination, at this exact moment, is her singing. She subsitutes words in familiar melodies. The first of these was "No" to the tune of the ABC song (this is when we decided to make a real effort to use NO as little as possible). Another example is "This Old Man" with the lyrics that go something like this: "Ma Ma Papa, Ma Ma Papa, Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Papa (and so on)". But, I have to say, we are thrilled that her ear is developed enough to sing recognizable songs, correct lyrics or not.

I think one of my important focuses as a parent is to allow her the latitude of imagining and to do my best to cultivate her creativity. Where would the world be without the beautiful things contributed by the artists among us? And what kind of society would we have without those who appreciate beauty?