This my quandary. I want to be the type of Mom that immerses herself in the imaginary play of her kids. It’s sounds whimsical, doesn’t it? It is to a certain extent but sometimes it’s downright boring. For several years now I have played with every form of vehicle on wheels (cars, motorcycles, monster trucks, etc.). I’m kind of over it. In fact, I was kind of over it the first time I played with them. Even though it isn’t my thing I do it because T.Puzzle and Full Speed ARE my thing.
So, when the usual car related activity was replaced by an imaginary zoo, I was more than willing to participate. We fed the animals, gave them hugs and at times, they had to be disciplined. I was slightly concerned when Full Speed placed a dinosaur in time-out. He proceeds to tell the dinosaur not to behave that way, grabs it by its feet and flips it over the back of the chair. I know he is modeling my discipline technique but I swear, I have never launched my children over the back of the time-out chair (even on the days I really, really want to).
After the discipline it is decided that the zoo animals are ready for a nap. I tell Full Speed to grab the huge, round pillow we have and tell him to use that for their bed. As soon as little T.Puzzle sees this pillow, he dives head first in it. This makes Full Speed angry because it’s only for ‘the animals!’ He takes a few steps back and does a crazy ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’ move. He sails through the air with his feet and arms extended in a rigid karate pose and breaks his fall with his little brother’s face. T.Puzzle immediately bursts into tears. When he sits up, he has a huge red marks on his face and his glasses are dangling pathetically off only one ear.
Needless to say, our visit to the zoo was over. On the bright side, Full Speed’s tiny, stuffed lion didn’t try to maul anyone.
