Pretend Play At its Best

Madeleine is deeply embedded in the throes of pretend-play creativity.  Julia was like this as a four-year-old as well, although Julia at least seemed to have some sense of social consciousness about it.  Madeleine will launch into pretend play in the middle of a packed room if she feels like it.  On Christmas Eve, while the kids were getting dressed into their pageant costumes down in the lower church hall, Madeleine threw herself, heart and soul, into a pretend play game that attracted the attention of another little boy.  Before long, Madeleine and the boy were racing in large circles around the church hall, occasionally wiping out on the slippery linoleum floor, as Madeleine shrieked, "Hurry!  I'm an angel!  We have to get BABY JESUS!  Hurry up, hurry up!  VOLDEMORT'S coming to GET US!"

She really knows how to cast the true Christmas spirit upon those around her, no?


The game resumed two days ago, without warning, when we stopped by the house of kids Madeleine has never even met, and who are a good five and seven years older than she.  After exchanging the barest of pleasantries with these kids, Madeleine began racing in circles around their dining room table, exclaiming, "Hey, do you wanna play my GAME?  I'm an ANGEL, and we have the Baby Jesus, and VOLDEMORT is in it!  Hurry!  Jesus CHRIST is coming and we have to SAVE him from VOLDEMORT!"

I'm sure the kids didn't think Madeleine was weird at all.


Today, I took the kids to church, only to find out that both church choir and Sunday School were on hiatus for the day.  So that left me sitting in the very front pew of church (usually reserved for Sunday School kids) with my own two girls climbing all over me and fighting over who got to sit in my lap or cuddle me.  But the feuding didn't last for long.  Madeleine quickly took off into fantasy land, and spent much of the entire church service talking quietly to herself.  (May I remind you, we were in the front row.  I'm sure the priest enjoyed the constant stream of one-sided chatter going on while he was giving his sermon.)  At one point, I noticed Madeleine stroking the hand of an elderly woman standing next to us.  I delicately tried to suggest Madeleine be gentle, while yanking her hands away.  No matter.  A second later, Madeleine's hand had wielded itself back over to the hand of our neighbor, and was once again creeping around up and down her hand.

ME: Madeleine, honey.  Be gentle with other people.  Here, move over this way.  (Yanking her hand away once again)
MADELEINE: (not even pausing in her out-loud pretend play dialogue, moving her hand back over and crawling her fingers over our neighbor's hand once again.)
ME: Madeleine.  Come here, honey.  (picking her up)
MADELEINE: (loudly) But there are TEN LITTLE SPIDERS jumping around on her hand!

How nice of Madeleine to include the elderly woman next to us in her pretend play game, without even asking if this was a game in which the woman wanted to partake.  Boy, Madeleine sure can share.  No idea stays entirely to Madeleine's own self.  Let's include EVERYONE!

At any rate, we made it through the service without being TOO distracting, so now we are safely back at home, where Julia is currently thumpily galloping while thinking about fantasy things ("anything can happen!") and Madeleine is in the bath loudly talking her Ariel and Belle bath toys as they engage in all sorts of bath-time adventures. 

Imagination sure is fun!