"But this is a baby coffee bug," Makani told me. "Mommy coffee bugs have to give their babies coffee so that they'll grow hair to survive the winter. Mommy and Daddy bugs don't drink coffee. Just the babies."
And then she was off, racing into some unseen world that I couldn't see or touch. She described for me the anatomy (101 legs), the habitat, and the culture--and probably anything else you can think a bug encyclopedia might tell you about bugs. It probably took her an hour or more.
A year ago, it was hole hogs--shortly after ground hogs day. I think that's where she got inspired for this creature. Hole hogs have beaver tales and build houses and love their young. Hole hog babies know that their mommies and daddies love them. For weeks, our couches were torn apart because the cushions were used to build hole hog houses.
And several years before, it was Big Sister Dog. She was blue and bigger than Clifford, and she had a long, long neck and wings. She would eat the clouds and breathe fire. When there was a fire or someone in trouble, she was always there to rescue puppies and people. Big Sister Dog went with us everywhere.
On the other hand, Rowena--though she does pretend at times--is very practical. If you say, "There's a rug on the floor," she would say, "No, that's a blanket." If you suggest to drink tea out of an empty teacup, she'll point out that there is nothing in it. Or if you call her a puppy because she is pretending to bark, she'll say, "No, I am Rowena Karmelle Webb."
But she too has her own little stories. I loved watching her play with the Lego's she got for her birthday last year because it was the first time I got to see her create stories of her own. She built a pirate ship. But they were good pirates, she assured me. They had a pile of food stored on their ship. What did the pirates eat? Cookies, of course. But they also had good-for-you food too. What was that? Sandwiches.
She put all the pirates to bed and got them up and moved them about the ship and made them swim in the water. What a joy! I loved it. I would sit by and watch, asking questions now and then to help her flush out her story. But mostly, I just listened. My heart got all soft and mushy, and I thought I was going to cry happy tears. I hadn't expected to have such a vivid imagination.
This morning, Kaylee says to me as she looks out the back window, "T.J. Webb is outside in the snow because it is slippery." She pronounces each word so carefully and clearly. And I am just laughing inside. First off, it amuses me that she calls him by his first and last name, rather than "Daddy." But also, he isn't out there. He's in the bedroom getting ready for church.
I think it is their vivid imaginations that make my world spin around. Without it, parenting would lose its joy and delight. Then parenting would only be the endless task of herding cats in the direction you want them to go. And I would be a mess of frustration and anger.
Please comment and share some stories about your children and their imaginations.
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