Imagination Play

The imagination of children makes me laugh so hard. Listening to them play together and come up with "great" ideas brings smiles to everyone's faces and many times will bring many to just holding onto their tummies from laughing so hard.



It's also funny how these "new" ideas are old ideas and something that's been done and played generations before. and it's funny how our cultures always end up being a part of the play. My parents have been in the country for over 36 years now and I was born here...so my kids are even more removed from "being chinese" than I was, yet with their friends they played "chinese restaurant"...just like I did as a kid. Why do we do this? although I have to say as these kids become more and more advance at a young age and are more "mature" with their thoughts they do throw in interesting twists and turns. So as they play "chinese restaurant", Madi reports to me that Chloe's grandmother dies! so now my mind is running and wondering OMG! Did she really die? or is this make believe? So I must have had that look on my face of utter horror and confusion at the same time and that was when Madi tells me, "no mom. It was a stick." As if THAT was going to make sense to me! "No mom, the stick is the phone, and someone called Chloe and said her grandma died". "ohhhh..." Now I'm really confused...i realize it's pretend play but did she really die?

Do I ask or don't ask? And what are my kids telling their friends if this is how imagination play is now? Are they telling their friends that mommy has died? or their grandparents have died?! and btw, very much frowned upon in the chinese culture. If you had said that to MY grandmother I might as well have killed her myself! I guess chinese people don't believe that sometimes words are just words.

So back to imagination play as we have just digressed a bit...chinese kids play "chinese restaurant", what do jewish kids operate when playing restaurant? do they have delis? and the Indians...do they all operate seven elevens?