imagine all the people

but i can't!

i am beginning to wonder about the imagination and my lack of it. imagination must be correlated to the memory. i seriously do not have either! (my sister does and i have always been jealous of this ability of hers, as if this ‘ability’ were her superpower)

sweet cheeks really loves to play barbies, polly pockets, peek-a-boos, dolls, etc. she has an amazing imagination. the conversations she can create between the dolls amaze me. i actually really love listening to her when she is playing because not only does she make things up like trips to the mall to buy lipglosses, she also has the dolls play out things that i know have taken place at one point in time during her life.

it is usually things that have happened at school that day among her friends. The usual fighting, not sharing, getting in trouble stuff that the teachers don’t tell you about. quite often, without the dolls, sweet cheeks will have me play school with her in our front yard. she has me, as well as 2-3 other imaginary people(whom she gives the craziest names to- like asha, pollya, angel, and saphy) stand in line at the swing, get in trouble, sit in time out, do show n’ tell, and a variety of other activities. it really interests me because i feel like it is a good way for me to indirectly hear about her day.

sweet cheeks will often say, “you need to go sit down and think about why you did that?” i love this statement, but know it too deep and mature for me to say. surely she learned it from her teacher.

i enjoy her real life playtime, like games and crafts, more so than her imaginary playtime. you must be thinking that now you know I don’t like imaginary play if I would pick craft time with a toddler over it! the reason being that i seriously do not have an imagination. i may have had one when i was her age, but that part of my brain is apparently non functioning now. i feel bad when she says she wants a kid to play with because her mother, the most boring person to play with, has no imagination when it comes to playing.

i end up feeling guilty because i really don’t enjoy this type of playtime and bore quickly of it. then i feel more guilt because she doesn’t have anyone else to play with so i should just suck it up and do it. then i get bored again. it is a vicious cycle. what it comes down to is, no matter what i do with sweet cheeks, somehow it brings about the mommy guilt. i fall victim to it daily.