As I type this post, I am witnessing a transformation.
My daughters’ bedroom has become a fashion design warehouse, where haute
couture for the indiscriminate kindergarten set is being created from
construction paper, magic markers and a lot of scotch tape. It is way past their
bedtime, but I haven’t the heart to stop their play – they are working so hard
to “finish making clothes for our store, Mommy.”
Their passion is enviable. As adults, many of us yearn
to find hobbies or vocations we enjoy so much that they keep us up at night,
draw us out of bed in the morning. But for children, these enterprises are
daily occurrences. A piece of paper has the potential to become a kite, a boat,
a sword or a dress. There are no limits to their imagination, and isn’t this
what we want for them? To be daring, to be different, to think outside the
proverbial toy box?
Tonight, the benefits of this kind of imaginative play
outweigh the need for an extra hour of sleep (mine or theirs). Their little
brains and fingers and churning, and I am delighted by the intermittent chatter
between them. “Let’s call our store pretty.com,” one says. “How much should we
charge for paper purses?” responds the other. Besides being a wonderful
creative exercise, I have read enough to know of the benefits of this kind of
play to their social and cognitive development.
So this tired softy sits and watches and even makes a
purchase: three dollars for a green paper tank top. It’s not at all functional,
but it’s definitely an original. And so are all of our children.
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