Pretend Play is Fun

Lately, kids have been enjoying playing teacher-teacheran with Mom and Dad. I enjoy pretend play with them and I love that they are the ones who conceptualize pretend games. Mommy just goes with flow.

One really funny game we play requires a lot of imagination and improvisation. We pretend the bedroom wall is a huge blackboard, we have a pretend chalk and we write invisible ‘lessons’ on the board. It’s up to the 'student' to figure out what was written. From the supplied answers our game advances. Honestly, it’s really fun and funny. Anything goes kind of play.

Here's once conversation where kids get to play teacher:

Sam: Mommy I want to eat the one you bought kanina (he meant the other day pa).

Me: Which one? Otap? (he loves Otap).

Sam: No, it’s not crunchy. It’s soft and rectangle and color white.

Me: Bread sticks?

Ate S: It’s soft Mommy, not crunchy

Sam: Ate Sophie is check! Mommy is X! (that's 1 mistake for me) 

Me: Marshmallow?

Sam: No! You’re X (getting a little impatient with Mommy, 2 X na ko).

Me: What is it? A donut?

Sam: You’re X again. It’s a healthy food noh. (Bokyang bokya na ko)

When Daddy tried to join in, I had someone to share my Xs with. Only Ate Sophie is check. The conversation went on but I still couldn’t figure out what he wanted. Boo.

Here's another pretend play the kids invented. They pretended to be cavemen (after watching The Croods in cinema and Ice Age on DVD). That's about all of the bottles of their poster paints on our garage wall. Need to buy a new set again. Really, we buy crayon and paints almost every week.
Nevertheless, I smiled when I saw our wall and told the helpers not to erase it. Life with 2 imaginative kids :)

Edmark Smart Cube

Sophie, being the older child, is already taught that whenever we go to the mall, going to the toy store is okay but it doesn’t automatically mean they will bring home something from the store. Especially if the price of the toy is not cheap for an impulse buy and if mommy says, ‘too expensive’ or ‘not in our budget’, she knows that it will never be purchased for her and that it’s time to look for something that mommy will pay for. She never insisted because it never works for the thrifty mom.

However, one weekend while we were looking for a gift for an inaanak, Sophie saw once again her most desired toy, the Smart Cube. She is so amazed by this toy that she would visit the booth everytime we go to a toy store. But I never bought her that toy because it was expensive based on thrifty mommy’s point of view. Until-

“Why are you carrying that”, the thrifty mom asked

“Buy ko ‘to”, the little girl replied while clinging dearly to a box of Smart Cube.

“We don’t have budget for that. I said no buying today, di ba? Return that”, I insisted

“eh, binigay sa akin ‘to ng mama (referring to the promodiser)”

“Not because he gave it to you means you’re not gonna pay for it.” I replied.

I was supposed to go to the promodiser to give him a a piece of my mind but then again I thought, this is the nth time that Sophie asked me to buy her that toy and I think it’s a nice toy. So I finally gave in. The thrifty mom who wouldn’t spend more than 100 bucks for a non-occasional toy finally gave in.

Anyway, I’m glad na rin that I bought cubes. Even Sam enjoys the cubes and can already create different figures on his own (if he is not destroying Ate's work). Sophie, of course adores her new toy. I think she was able to finish all figures that the basic set can create.She wanted to move on to the more complicated figures but we need to buy another set for that. 

This toy is really educational, enhances the thinking and imagination skills of kids. Very ideal for toddlers to practice their motor skills. If they're tired of building, Sam make it into a basket where he shoots his small rubber balls. 

the christmas tree

the ring, her own version

Sam's freeform

Sophie and Sam, both being toddlers already have become so much more of my playmates. I believe that the moments we spend together clowning around, playing pretend, reading stories,etc. are just as precious and as priceless that when I get to bed at night I really thank the Lord for bringing me such joy that is motherhood.

What are the moments we enjoy together:

Sophie and Sam at Fun Ranch

1) Clowning around. I first discovered how much they enjoyed mommyclown during a thunderstorm. Both of them are really scared of thunders and lightning, they panic, cry and hide. When I saw that Sophie was starting to panic as thunder rolled, I grabbed a bunch of cotton balls, put it in my nostrils and blew it off while I made a funny face. The moment they saw the cotton balls fly off my nose, they laughed so hard they forgot about the chaos outside;

2) Playing pretend. Who doesn't love this game? Not only is it fun it also helps children develop their imagination. Sophie, Sam and I love to pretend having a party eating the yummy cakes, candies, ice cream and lemonade pictures from their story or counting books. They especially love 'munching' the pictures from Sophie's Hello Kitty counting book because it looks so delicious! Even Daddy and the yayas get to share their ice cream and lemonade :) We also like to pretend to travel. 'Take a jeepney', 'pay the (invisible) driver', go to the next room and 'take a cab' to Jollibee or McDo. When we 'get' to the fastfood, we order and eat (imaginary) meals. It's just so much fun :0

3) Sing song. Anything from Barney songs (Sam loves the elephant song), nursery rhymes, TVC (TV Commercial) jingles, Telenovela themes, Magic Sing Tagalog songs (Sophie's fave is May Bukas Pa) we would sing it! Ever since Sophie was 2yrs old she likes to mix and match songs, use the lyrics of one song with the melody of another song. She also likes to invent songs that only she can sing, sometimes I just help her with the lyrics so she can finish her song. She feels proud after finishing her composition :)

4) Shower Time. This is something that Sophie and Sam loves to do with their dad. During car wash day, Sophie and Sam loves to go out and get wet with Daddy. They both love being hosed and pretend it's rain. I have to stay dry, though, because someone has to clean the wet kids :)

the kids gave the car, the street and themselves a wash