Serious Pretend
Do you remember playing pretend?
I do.
Emily was always great at making up our stories, and our pretend games quickly became quite serious, and we would BE our pretend.
Playing house with Barbie had nothing on our games.
Emily was able to pull not just me, but many of our playmates into our world. It was fantastic.
Joshua was never big on pretend when he was younger. I think his mind was too serious for it.
And then came Eva.
"Hey, Lily, you need to say, 'I'm a unicorn!'" Eva said. "And I'll still be a unicorn."
Lily stood stalk still, and said, flatly, "I unicorn."
Eva whinnied and then ran away on all fours, Emily-style. Lily chased after her.
Eva then came back into the kitchen and addressed Josh this time.
"Okay, Josh, you come after me, and then kill me with your sword."
"Okay," Josh happily agreed.
They battled back and forth, and then Eva stopped the game.
"No, you can't kill me, because I have horn."
"Then I'll cut your horn off," Josh replied.
"You can't," Eva invented. "It is too strong."
Joshua's brow furrowed at this conundrum, and continued to follow along.
It only took a few minutes before Joshua figured out the solution.
"Eva! I have the strongest dagger ever, and it can cut off your horn!"
"No," Eva replied, dismissing this idea.
"No, really," Joshua said. "It's the strongest dagger."
Eva wouldn't have any of it.
Joshua came up with another solution. He waved his paper sword across Eva.
"There, I cut off your head."
Eva complied and fell to the floor.
She apparently didn't like how the story was turning out, and suddenly she was alive again.
"No, you have to use a horn, so you have to be a unicorn."
Joshua was completely baffled at this turn of events, and it took him a moment to turn into a unicorn.
Suddenly, there were two unicorns battling in the kitchen with their horns.
"I'm going to use my horn and turn you into a slob!" Eva laughed.
"What??" Josh laughed incredulously.
More whinnying and laughing ensued.
"Okay, now you have to use your sword AND your horn, Josh, to kill me."
There was some quarreling in the hallway about how Eva the Unicorn was going to die, and Eva finally decided that Joshua had to turn into the Red Bull to kill her.
Joshua then decided to take out Lily.
"Leave her alone," Eva said severely. "I'm a unicorn."
The exchange between Joshua and Eva released a flood of memories about playing pretend, and Eva's inventions were spot on with how we used to play.
Childhood is wonderful. I'm sad I can't go back and play pretend, but it's almost as good being privy to my children's games. I hope they keep it up.
I do.
Emily was always great at making up our stories, and our pretend games quickly became quite serious, and we would BE our pretend.
Playing house with Barbie had nothing on our games.
Emily was able to pull not just me, but many of our playmates into our world. It was fantastic.
Joshua was never big on pretend when he was younger. I think his mind was too serious for it.
And then came Eva.
"Hey, Lily, you need to say, 'I'm a unicorn!'" Eva said. "And I'll still be a unicorn."
Lily stood stalk still, and said, flatly, "I unicorn."
Eva whinnied and then ran away on all fours, Emily-style. Lily chased after her.
Eva then came back into the kitchen and addressed Josh this time.
"Okay, Josh, you come after me, and then kill me with your sword."
"Okay," Josh happily agreed.
They battled back and forth, and then Eva stopped the game.
"No, you can't kill me, because I have horn."
"Then I'll cut your horn off," Josh replied.
"You can't," Eva invented. "It is too strong."
Joshua's brow furrowed at this conundrum, and continued to follow along.
It only took a few minutes before Joshua figured out the solution.
"Eva! I have the strongest dagger ever, and it can cut off your horn!"
"No," Eva replied, dismissing this idea.
"No, really," Joshua said. "It's the strongest dagger."
Eva wouldn't have any of it.
Joshua came up with another solution. He waved his paper sword across Eva.
"There, I cut off your head."
Eva complied and fell to the floor.
She apparently didn't like how the story was turning out, and suddenly she was alive again.
"No, you have to use a horn, so you have to be a unicorn."
Joshua was completely baffled at this turn of events, and it took him a moment to turn into a unicorn.
Suddenly, there were two unicorns battling in the kitchen with their horns.
"I'm going to use my horn and turn you into a slob!" Eva laughed.
"What??" Josh laughed incredulously.
More whinnying and laughing ensued.
"Okay, now you have to use your sword AND your horn, Josh, to kill me."
There was some quarreling in the hallway about how Eva the Unicorn was going to die, and Eva finally decided that Joshua had to turn into the Red Bull to kill her.
Joshua then decided to take out Lily.
"Leave her alone," Eva said severely. "I'm a unicorn."
The exchange between Joshua and Eva released a flood of memories about playing pretend, and Eva's inventions were spot on with how we used to play.
Childhood is wonderful. I'm sad I can't go back and play pretend, but it's almost as good being privy to my children's games. I hope they keep it up.
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