Jeer

I was reading my favorite Mama book, the Creative Family, and I started to freak just a little because the author goes on and on about the "imagination play" that happens endlessly in her family. There are costumes and make-up and it all sounds so, so lovely, but Dash could not care less about costumes and I wondered if maybe I had stilted his imagination with all the tv and whatnot.

So I started trying to jam costumes down his throat--wouldn't you like to dress like a pirate on the high seas? A noble knight slaying the evil dragon? No, and no.

But then today, when I really started to pay attention, he turned our bed into his grandparents' back yard and me into their puppy. It was a totally elaborate set-up, with paths winding through the comforter & stray leaves that had to be removed before he could progress on his scooter. Then he "rode" on one foot while I repeatedly chased him and knocked him down (like the puppy did the day before.)

Earlier he and I had a highly-choreographed light saber battle with a couple of twigs; and then we had a 45-minute game of "throw the stick, pick up the stick, count to three and throw the stick again."

And then, then, we had this exchange while playing "hide from the monsters" under the covers while waiting for Daddy to return with dinner.

Dash: This is Jeer, he's a monster, but he's a good monster.

Mama: Hello, Jeer. How are you?

Dash: Well, he's sleeping right now. He and his brother, Jeer, are both asleep right now.

Mama: Are they twins? Or just brothers?

Dash: They're brudders. I know them from a long time ago when we were little old men together.

So I guess his imagination is intact. He just doesn't really require props.