Let's Play!

Grace LOVES her doll house and incessantly begs for me to play with her.  Most of the time I gladly take on the role of playmate, but one day after countless play sessions, I could not even handle the thought of playing dolls AGAIN so I did what any busy mom would do:  I paid someone else! 

 "Jared," I said, "Will you play doll house with Grace for an hour if I pay you?"   Well, after we settled on a price, the two of them went off to play.  I'm not sure how long the fun actually lasted as Grace did not appreciate the way her big brother played dolls.  She didn't like it when the daddy jumped off the roof or when the monkeys ransacked the house.  After all, playing house is serious business.    

Even though I sometimes grow weary of playing the same old games with Grace day in and day out.  I treasure our time together.  Her days as a sweet, silly, and imaginative 3-year old are but brief.  Her cherubic little cheeks will soon melt into the rosy and robust countenance of a school girl.  She will no longer have time to slip into the imaginary world and play away her day.  Instead she will have homework, music lessons, sports, and video games.  

So for now I will enjoy playing dolls, putting together puzzles, finger painting, and Play-dough.  As a mother I have many roles.  Sometimes I get caught up in being a CAREGIVER...cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry.... and I forget to be a NURTURER.   When I take the time to sit down and play with Grace I recall how good it feels to NURTURE.  Then at the end of the day when the house is a mess and I feel like I have accomplished nothing, I have to remind myself that nurturing a child accounts for something!  

Much of the early motor development of the child depends on learning and refining such procedures, through play, imitation, trial and error, and incessant rehearsal. —Oliver Sacks, New Yorker, 24 Sept. 2007