Part of our attempts at Preschool at Home is to work on some imaginative play and following Cedella’s interests.
Well lately? She’s been interested in all things ‘Doctor’ related. Every time we go to Anna’s house to play she finds the Doctor set and drags it around the house.
Somewhere in our house she found a stethoscope and worn it around her neck all day. So I gathered some bits and pieces of Doctor gear around our house and I built her a little kit and set up a Doctor’s appointment for her Baby Doll. And yes, this doll is called Baby Doll.
I set up all her Doctor gear: glasses, stethoscope, thermometer and script pad. And her new computer. Because, as she reminded me, all Doctors have computers. Which is so very very true.
But really, she just wanted to include her computer in this game. This computer is the coolest thing she’s ever seen. And she tap tap taps away, just like her Mom. She may have officially gone over to the Tech Side of things. Thanks Grandma Becky!
When Baby Doll was ready she listened to her heart.
And took her blood pressure. Which she insisted that she was different even though she did the same thing.
And then she had to type everything into her computer.
When she was done taking her notes she wrote Baby Doll a prescription for a nap. Seriously. She said Baby Doll needed to rest so she could feel better. Smart kid. Wish she would follow her own advice sometimes.
It was so much fun to watch her imagine her way through this ‘appointment’. She created problems and talked through them. When she was playing with the computer she kept telling me to stop taking pictures so she could ‘do work’. I love that she wants to ‘do work’. And when she finally prescribed Baby Doll some rest, Cedella gently tucked the doll into her own bed, kissed the dolly forehead and tell her everything would be alright.
So it was no surprise that a few days later when we visited her BFF Anna that once again the Doctor kit came out. Only this time? It was Princess Doctor. And it was FABULOUS.
Anna said she had a tummy ache, so Doctor Cedella listened to her stomach to hear what was wrong.
Then she gave Anna a shot to make her feel better.
I think they both enjoyed it, huh?
Have you ever stopped to just watch your kids play? I say that because I never really had. Not without interfering in some way. But when she was playing Doctor by herself, Izzie was sleeping and I just sat back and took an occasional picture and watched her.
Slowing down for a moment and just really watching her imagine and play was pretty incredible.
Everything is so new and fresh and unique to her. Seeing things for the first time through her eyes is amazing.
To us grown-ups playing Doctor means to do simple tasks like checking your heart, giving shots or typing notes on a computer. (*Or something dirty. But please, we’re talking about little kids here. Let’s keep our minds out of the gutter.)
But for her it meant more than that. It meant taking care of Baby Doll, and making sure Baby Doll knew everything was ok.
My girl has the most unbelievable sense of compassionate and empathy.
Whenever another child cries or gets hurt she becomes very quiet and focuses on figuring out what went wrong and how she can help them. And while I will gladly take some credit for teaching her to care for others, her intense connection to making others feel better is all her own.
Maybe Monk will grow up to be a Doctor. Maybe she’ll be an Artist. Or even the President. That is not important to me. What I hope is that she will grow up to be a kind, smart, confident and compassionate person.
And I think she is already on that path.
How do you instill the values of compassion, kindness and caring in your children? How do you use imaginative play in your house?
Happy Wordless/Wordful Wednesday to you all!!