On Toys and Imagination

I was so excited when we moved into our beautiful new home because of the playroom located directly adjacent to our kitchen. I am so fortunate to have this room where my kids can play while I go about my business in my home office (also known as the kitchen). Our playroom is packed with toys, puzzles, books, a play kitchen, art supplies, barbies, dolls, stuffed animals and more. You name it, we have it. Our playroom is so packed that I frequently reduce our inventory by taking things to the basement or to Goodwill. The fact is, I should pretty much reduce our inventory to a very small list of select items because my kids barely play with any of their toys. They prefer items that are not necessarily found at Toys R Us, and so I am currently compiling a list of items my children will receive from Santa Claus next Christmas. The following items provide more hours of enjoyment to my kids than any blinking, singing, peeing doll or over-priced video game system:

1. Umbrellas
2. Flashlights
3. Shovels
4. Dirt
5. Water/hose/lawn sprinkler
6. Buckets
7. My old clothes/shoes
8. Cardboard boxes of various sizes
9. Sleeping bags
10. Sticks
11. Mouthwash
12. Toothbrushes
13. Any travel size product
14. Squirt bottles
15. Magnets
16. Brooms
17. Mops
18. The apples that fall from the trees in our backyard
19. Rope
20. Time with Mom and Dad

I am so thankful and proud of my children's imaginations. They have various scenarios and scripts that they play out on a daily basis. They often invent new themes and story lines, and I love to listen to them "act out" their dreams and realities through their play. They often mimic our family life and I love to see them play Mom or Dad and treat eachother respectfully and lovingly. Of course, they have also "played" Mommy when she was having a bad day. That is when I learn from their play; when their job impacts mine, and I become a bit more aware of my actions.