With N sick since Thursday evening and me honking and snorting nonstop since Friday night, we have been cooped up this weekend. I took G with me to Blockbusters this morning where I bought 6 gently used dvds as a means of keeping us occupied for the next however many days until wellness temporarily reigns again.
One of the buys was Toy Story 3, a series of films that always gets me comparing my children's collective lack of imagination with that of Andy.
If I ever had to say what N and G are good at, imaginative play would be way down at the end of the list. I seriously sometimes wonder if there is something wrong with them. Not once have they ever played school or doctor or daycare or anything. They are fabulous at chasing each other and dancing with each other, but imagining.....not so much.
I know N sometimes imagines when she plays with her Barbies because I hear her talking for them. And sometimes I hear G making his trains or cars talk to each other. But I am never really blown away by their imaginative skills as I am at some of the stuff other people's kids seem to come up with.
For a long time with N, I blamed myself and the fact that I was so "in her face" for her entire baby/toddlerhood. Feeling like I had to expand her brain constantly, never giving her an opportunity to entertain herself. The tv was never on (at least until she turned 3 and I was sick for 11 weeks with all-day pregnancy yuck), so I can't blame that.
But I definitely didn't entertain G constantly when he was a baby and toddler because I was sick, tired and pregnant during his toddlerhood.
Of course, I don't remember being a terribly imaginative child. With my friend DD, we would pretend we were married to members of Duran Duran. And I guess when I danced in the basement, I would pretend I was on stage, performing for an audience. Perhaps that is why in college my creative writing professor told me that my writing is stronger than my plot. Perhaps that is why I am not a screenwriter for movies like Toy Story 3 with Buzz Lightyear saving the train and then being bombed by barrels of monkeys from Dr. Porkchop's pig blimp.
Elvis wanted a little less conversation.
I'd like a little more imagination.
One of the buys was Toy Story 3, a series of films that always gets me comparing my children's collective lack of imagination with that of Andy.
If I ever had to say what N and G are good at, imaginative play would be way down at the end of the list. I seriously sometimes wonder if there is something wrong with them. Not once have they ever played school or doctor or daycare or anything. They are fabulous at chasing each other and dancing with each other, but imagining.....not so much.
I know N sometimes imagines when she plays with her Barbies because I hear her talking for them. And sometimes I hear G making his trains or cars talk to each other. But I am never really blown away by their imaginative skills as I am at some of the stuff other people's kids seem to come up with.
For a long time with N, I blamed myself and the fact that I was so "in her face" for her entire baby/toddlerhood. Feeling like I had to expand her brain constantly, never giving her an opportunity to entertain herself. The tv was never on (at least until she turned 3 and I was sick for 11 weeks with all-day pregnancy yuck), so I can't blame that.
But I definitely didn't entertain G constantly when he was a baby and toddler because I was sick, tired and pregnant during his toddlerhood.
Of course, I don't remember being a terribly imaginative child. With my friend DD, we would pretend we were married to members of Duran Duran. And I guess when I danced in the basement, I would pretend I was on stage, performing for an audience. Perhaps that is why in college my creative writing professor told me that my writing is stronger than my plot. Perhaps that is why I am not a screenwriter for movies like Toy Story 3 with Buzz Lightyear saving the train and then being bombed by barrels of monkeys from Dr. Porkchop's pig blimp.
Elvis wanted a little less conversation.
I'd like a little more imagination.
2 comments:
I've often wondered if imagination is something that you're either born with...or you're NOT. Sure, imagination can be nurtured or practiced, but I tend to believe that some people just aren't wired to be imaginative people.
Of course, that doesn't mean that they aren't creative or divergent thinkers, though. At least, not in my experience.
Hmmmm.... this is interesting. Harper has a HUGE imagination. I am not sure that I did much to support that. She watched more than her fair share of TV as a toddler because I was in grad school and then when Michael was little she still watched a lot because his needs were so consuming. In fact, she still probably watches too much by many standards. I was conscious of giving her space to play on her own and I try to do the same with Michael. BUT maybe if my children were less inclined to entertain themselves I would have HAD to spend even more time interacting with them.
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