Show and Share

No matter what we do - - go for a walk, play board games, make dinner, or make necklaces (as we did today) - Greta makes our activity fit into her pretend play.  And it is usually centered around school.  She constantly wants me to "sign Wyatt in" or "sign Wyatt out" of school.  Greta walks around with a clip board and Wyatt's old school sheets for this purpose.  She often plays the drop-off scene over and over and over again:  to her baby, "Goodbye, honey.  I love you.  I love you.  Have a good day, honey, " and to the teacher, "Now I left him some extra clothes, and he should drink lots of water today.  Ok?  Thank you sooooo much."  All of this conversation is accompanied by extreme maternal or scholarly facial expressions, depending on whether she is Teacher or Mom.  Today while Wyatt slept, Greta and I finally had a moment to play with one of her birthday gifts - a necklace-making set.  It's not a Wyatt-friendly toy, so we had to wait for the right moment to sneak in some bead time.  While we strung our  necklaces, we were wrapped in Greta's pretend world.  She was the teacher, and I was a child who had brought the bead kit to school for Show and Share, which they do each Friday during circle time.  Each of Greta's babies sat with us in our circle with their own little trinkets (courtesy of their very kind teacher, Greta) for their own Show and Share time.     

Even the witch that has graced our mantle for the last month was a part of our Show and Share circle.  Greta has played with her ALL WEEKEND.  This morning, our pretend scenario was a kids' salon, and the witch was in need of a haircut.  First, I was the stylist and then I was the mom.  Here, the witch is just another kid at school. 

Sidenote:  You would think it would be hard to cuddle a Halloween decoration.  Although it is made with a hard body meant for sitting on a table, Greta can snuggle anything.  She has loved on this witch so much in the last couple of days - - curling her hair, rocking her to sleep, and this afternoon, Greta walked into the kitchen with the witch tucked inside her robe.  Greta has heard me say that I used to do that with her when she was a newborn because she liked to be cozy and warm.  I guess the witch likes that too, despite what they say about the cool temperature of a witch's extremities.  Ahem.

Now back to Show and Share:  Even Barbie got in on the action.  Yes, I said BARBIE.  Greta got a Barbie for her birthday from a school friend, and it's been very interesting.  When Greta first played with her, she kept refering to the Barbie as "that lady".  Eventually, she has taken to calling her Barbie, but it took about a week before it sank in that this particular doll already has a name. 

I have said a dozen times that one of my favorite things to do is watch, and now be a part of, such dramatic play.  I love how Greta's mind works, how she spins such intricate scenarios, and how we get to see what her school world is like by watching her act it out every night at home.  As long as she is pretending to be such a kind grown-up who speaks sweetly to her babies and to her school children, we feel pretty safe that all is right in her little world.