The Child-Adult Play Relationship
This morning, playing with Lucy, I realized something--I've got to roll with the punches.
In the arena of adult-child interaction, remembering one thing always helps: don't become invested in any one area of play. You'll end up getting frustrated with what may seem like the kid's short attention span.
(then you'll begin questioning your own motives for playing with kids' toys)
If the kid gets bored with a certain toy that they immediately previously seemed highly interested in, let them move on, and move on with them. They might laugh, squeal and shout at the expectation of the fun of a certain toy or activity, especially when you reply excitedly in the affirmative to their request of playing with it, with them. That's no guarantee, however, that they'll maintain a modicum of interest when it reaches their hot little hands.
Oftentimes the toy is my legs that she likes me to bounce her on, as I'm doing right this second.
They don't know that expressing this excitement causes others to expect that they'll have fun with that toy for... like, more than 5 minutes. Roll with the punches. Be one with the kid mind. The world is full of interesting and mysterious things to explore, and it's easy for young brains to become distracted by the next shiny shiny. And why shouldn't they? Maybe they really want to play with one particular thing, but then realize it's not what they wanted in their heart of hearts.
Kids want to feel that elation of pure toy-fantasy-pleasure. Don't we all? I hypothesize that as my Lucy quickly and frequently changes up the toys or the style of play she engages in, it means she's experimenting--searching for that ever-elusive, pure, ecstatic fun. It doesn't always come with the same thing. Certain toys will be totally tits one minute, and boring the next.
My Lucy rarely wants to play with the same toy for very long. One second, we're playing with blocks, making a house, dresser, couch, tv, and bed for her little pink bear. Before any of it's finished, she moves on to another set of toys, or just straight up asks me to throw her in the air.
"Fly high, in the sky?"
You should hear how she squeals when I acquiesce. And you should feel the burn in my arms. I basically have one hand under her butt and the other under her neck/shoulders area, and I'm throwing her up over her bed, quite high. I'm usually on my knees, cause her bed is low to the floor--no box springs, only a mattress. And her ceiling slants downward towards the wall on the far side of the bed, so I've got to be careful not to bash her face up there. And I kinda catch her on the way down, so she doesn't hit the bed too hard. This may or may not be necessary, but I would rather be careful. She's heavy, and falls hard .......
BB just woke up. Short morning naps for this one lately. Ok, just hold on, dear reader, must retrieve her.
This morning, playing with Lucy, I realized something--I've got to roll with the punches.
In the arena of adult-child interaction, remembering one thing always helps: don't become invested in any one area of play. You'll end up getting frustrated with what may seem like the kid's short attention span.
(then you'll begin questioning your own motives for playing with kids' toys)
If the kid gets bored with a certain toy that they immediately previously seemed highly interested in, let them move on, and move on with them. They might laugh, squeal and shout at the expectation of the fun of a certain toy or activity, especially when you reply excitedly in the affirmative to their request of playing with it, with them. That's no guarantee, however, that they'll maintain a modicum of interest when it reaches their hot little hands.
Oftentimes the toy is my legs that she likes me to bounce her on, as I'm doing right this second.
They don't know that expressing this excitement causes others to expect that they'll have fun with that toy for... like, more than 5 minutes. Roll with the punches. Be one with the kid mind. The world is full of interesting and mysterious things to explore, and it's easy for young brains to become distracted by the next shiny shiny. And why shouldn't they? Maybe they really want to play with one particular thing, but then realize it's not what they wanted in their heart of hearts.
Kids want to feel that elation of pure toy-fantasy-pleasure. Don't we all? I hypothesize that as my Lucy quickly and frequently changes up the toys or the style of play she engages in, it means she's experimenting--searching for that ever-elusive, pure, ecstatic fun. It doesn't always come with the same thing. Certain toys will be totally tits one minute, and boring the next.
My Lucy rarely wants to play with the same toy for very long. One second, we're playing with blocks, making a house, dresser, couch, tv, and bed for her little pink bear. Before any of it's finished, she moves on to another set of toys, or just straight up asks me to throw her in the air.
"Fly high, in the sky?"
You should hear how she squeals when I acquiesce. And you should feel the burn in my arms. I basically have one hand under her butt and the other under her neck/shoulders area, and I'm throwing her up over her bed, quite high. I'm usually on my knees, cause her bed is low to the floor--no box springs, only a mattress. And her ceiling slants downward towards the wall on the far side of the bed, so I've got to be careful not to bash her face up there. And I kinda catch her on the way down, so she doesn't hit the bed too hard. This may or may not be necessary, but I would rather be careful. She's heavy, and falls hard .......
BB just woke up. Short morning naps for this one lately. Ok, just hold on, dear reader, must retrieve her.
*****
Okay, you know what woke BB up? The biggest poop I've ever seen her expel. That shit was leaking out of all corners of the diaper. The back inside of her shirt had a nice goopy collection in it, complete with a black worm-looking thing. Ah, poop details. But, being the master shitwiper I am, I had that mess cleaned up in... 10 minutes? Something. Now it's several hours later, and she's waking up from nap #2.
Before the nap, I fed her a thick bowl of rice cereal mixed with half a bottle of breast milk, which she feverishly gobbled up. Then I let her wash it down with the rest of the bottle. That hot pile of food in her belly helped her take a good long nap. So bye bye now, gotta go play with a baby while a toddler sleeps.
Gross!
ReplyDeleteOn the toy issue, I think you are right that kids are looking for pure toy fun, but I think there's another aspect. Toys are how they interact with the world and begin to make sense of how things work. They are exploring, learning, remembering, experimenting, hypothesizing - and it all looks like play with various toys. Just my take on it.
ReplyDeleteAuntie Colleen