Pretend

Ben walks through the kitchen flying a smart car. Elaina dives and splashes her fins in the ocean. Jack devours an entire building. Charlie eats me, and terrorizes other ocean dwellers. I love watching the kids pretend. I will often open the basement door to call the kids up to clean or help out in some way, and then when I hear them pretending together, I just quietly close the door and let them play a bit longer. I can't stop them from pretending. I am a little jealous of it. If I have a busy, crazy day and am in a crabby mood, it would be super to just pretend myself out of it. Like put myself on a tropical island somewhere instead of changing all the sheets on all the beds. Or put myself at the mall clothes shopping instead of at the grocery store. But even though I can't get as into pretending as the kids do, I can still use pretending to benefit me. Come to think of it, I think I actually pretend quite often. Like when I "pretend" to not hear the kids fighting, so that I don't have to intervene. Or when I "pretend" we are out of cookies, because the 2 year old has had enough. Or when I "pretend" to be asleep so the kids will get their own breakfast. So, my pretending may not seem as fun as the kids, but sometimes it still does me some good. Perhaps,I will try to use the pretending for even more good. Like when the kids are being crabby, and putting me in a bad mood, I can just pretend to be in a good mood. It seems my mood makes a big difference to the kids. And if my pretend good mood helps put them in a real good mood, then I will be having as much fun pretending as the kids do! Also I don't want to forget: -We lose our shoes all the time. I have purchased and implemented cubbies, tubs, shelves, lockers, and shoe trees. It does not matter. What is the problem!!!!!??? -Went in to check on Elaina sleeping last night. In her sleep she was hugging her new ballerina Barbie that she got for doing all her chores for a few weeks. So sweet. -Picking Scotty and Jack up from lacrosse yesterday: They were hilarious. Talked non-stop the whole way home about how hot and hard it was all morning, and how they made it through anyway, and drank all their water the first half of the morning, and "feel my shirt, that is ALL sweat!" And they weren't complaining. They were more like bragging about how they made it through the tough day. It was nice to hear them talk this way. Perhaps we have found a sport they have a little passion about.