Harper has a giant imagination. The last time we went to the zoo a couple of weeks ago, every other sentence started with, "Pretend I'm..." and it would go on from there. Don't get me wrong, this is one of my most favorite things about her and comes in handy because she can often entertain herself for hours. The trouble is, she gets so involved in her pretending that she doesn't want to clean it up, ever. She's not being lazy, she doesn't want ME to clean it up either. If I move anything I have destroyed someone's home and it is a tragedy. Recently she's been on a zoo kick and building habitats for this tacky (literally, it's rubbery and kind of sticky) toy lizard, "Lizzy," she has. She keeps building homes for Lizzy, but she likes to use containers that had previously been in use storing other toys. Which is fine, I guess, but at the end of the day I would like to be able to put the blocks back in their bin.
(She also freaked out because I couldn't understand her when she was whining at me and because she didn't want to sit at the dinner table with Michael. She wanted to eat in the dining room by herself. Apparently it's difficult to be five.)
And that's it, I'm just frustrated with Harper's behavior as well as my reaction to it. So I know that we're really fine and we'll just dust ourselves off and try to do better tomorrow. And if the morning doesn't go well, we'll try to do better in the afternoon. That's how it is with little ones, no?
(Mom, pretend I found this lost baby elephant and now it thinks I'm its mother.)******
Random funny Harper observation from a pre-meltdown trip to Target, "Mom, I think Toy Story 3 is taking over the WORLD!"
Random funny Harper observation from a pre-meltdown trip to Target, "Mom, I think Toy Story 3 is taking over the WORLD!"
4 comments:
My daughter has the exact opposite problem--she hasn't much of an imagination and cannot entertain herself for 6 seconds (she is very much like I was as a child). So I think I'd take the mess if it meant she was happy and entertained.
Yesterday she threw a series of fits, the biggest because she was so bored because all we'd done is go to the library to get new books.
It is hard being a 1st grader's cruise director.
I'm feeling your pain.
I have a boy, just like Harper. His imagination is nuts and he gets so involved that I have to be careful what I tell him. Last week he asked me about a picture of the Titanic that I have, so I told him. Now he's distraught and won't stop talking about it so I'm trying to make it more cheery and pretend that it sank but that everyone is happy. Sigh. And last month he was a dog and wouldn't walk or respond to me unless i called him doggy Jack. Sigh again..
Sophia (almost 3) acts out episodes of Nick Jr. shows. She has a great imagination and it is entertaining to watch and play along. It's even funnier to have people play along who have no clue what Sophia is talking about. How many times can we pretend to be Pirate Pigs? We are trying to teach her to pick up her toys before starting another game (we have a small house); this tactic normally results in melt downs. I hope there is a Dora episode about tidyness!
-Moira
Oh Kels. I read this post yesterday night (Tuesday) after having a similar, meltdown-filled day with my lovely oldest child. I often find myself wishing life had a "do over" button.
But alas. You will be here SO SOON and we will throw all of the children together and let them have meltdowns while we put our feet up and drink a few beers. Hee hee. I love you!
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