Imagination and Honesty

Two qualities that children possess more often than adults, in my opinion, are imagination and honesty. Imagination, even in children, is a little harder to come by nowadays unless you count people imagining they have more money than they really do and, therefore, running up exorbitant credit card bills--but that's probably more like delusional thinking than imagination.

The imagination I am referring to is when kids get together and really play. We had one of these breakthrough imagination moments at The Iowa Children's Museum a couple of weeks ago.

Back in June, the museum was getting old for the kids. They thought they had seen and done everything and summer time brought hoards of day care kids (whom we try to avoid all summer long, but no matter where we go, they are there). Anyway, it seemed like the museum had lost its savor--especially for the girls.

One rainy morning, we couldn't decide what to do with ourselves. Ricky suggested going to the zoo (don't ask me why, but that is what he calls the children's museum--and, if you think about it, that can be an accurate description). At Ricky's suggestion, Andrew screamed in excitement, but the girls just rolled their eyes. I wasn't all that excited about going either. But, since we had no other big plans, we went anyway.

Something happened on that visit that hasn't happened in a while. Despite the crowds, the chaos, and the fact that the kids had been there several times before, they had a great time. The secret ingredient which had been missing on other visits was Imagination.

The kids spent a long time actually pretending with the toys (which is really what they are meant for in the first place even though a lot of the kids seem to think the toys are meant for touching and drooling on for two seconds before dropping them on the floor for an unsuspecting adult like me to trip over).

The place the kids spent the most time was the hospital area. Observe Dr. Emily and her medical assistant Ricky,

Nurse Makayla receiving an important phone call from a patient in distress,

and Nurse Makayla assessing the symptoms of her patient. Medical Assistant Ricky had just gotten back from his break and was donning his white coat.

When it was time for us to go home, the kids really didn't want to leave. Normally, I only have to fight a little with Andrew to get out the door, but the whole crew was reluctant to go. In the end, hunger overcame their desire to play a little longer and we headed home for lunch time. As we walked back to the parking lot, however, Imagination continued its magic as they thought about what they would do after lunch (it was still raining). I don't know who started it, but somebody said, "All those toys at the children's museum are just like the ones we have at home." Their sibling replied, "Yea, like the Dr. stuff and the food box, and the babies." Then one of my genius children came up with this idea: "Why don't we make our own museum at home in our basement? It will be even better than the real museum because there won't be any other kids there to get in our way or mess up our game."

So, our friend Imagination, came home with us and the kids ended up busy for the rest of the afternoon and even a few days later. It was great!

First, they played Doctor with one of Dad's white shirts and a clipboard they found in the office. They already had a toy doctor kit to use and Makayla's old arm splint from June.
After playing Doctor, they thought it would be a good idea to set up a pretend toy store. That is something the museum doesn't have. They also used all of the Little People to set up a city.

I was ecstatic that they had found something to keep them busy and happy for so long. They didn't fight much, and at the end of the week, they cleaned up their mess (without a lot prodding from me). It was wonderful!

So, that is our recent experience with our friend, Imagination. Honesty is another trait that children have. My story about honesty has to do with the fact that we are expecting Baby #5 in January. No, I haven't really announced it, but now you know. The kids are thrilled to be expecting a new baby. They have been asking me for nearly a year now when Heavenly Father would send them another baby brother or sister (they are all actually hoping for a sister, but we'll see).

When we were at the children's museum, Makayla and Andrew spent a lot of time taking care of the babies and practicing for the time when they would have one at home. Makayla is a good little "mother" already, and I know she will be an awesome big sister--just like she has been for Ricky and Andrew. See how gentle she is with the baby?
Andrew, on the other hand, will need some closer supervision with a newborn around. He is very loving and sweet, and it is fun to watch him when he is pretending.

But, his little brother or sister will have to be pretty tough to handle a situation like this:

Hopefully, we'll be able to avoid that, right?

Anyway, on to the honesty story. Like I said, the kids are thrilled about having a baby and really just can't wait to meet their new little family member. A friend and neighbor of ours is also expecting a baby around the same time. Ricky noticed her cute little belly starting to stick out one day when we were visiting in the front yard. After we went in the house, he asked me, "Mom, when is your stomach going to get bigger?" Being a week shy of 4 months pregnant, I felt pretty good about myself after his very honest observation of my not-so-large stomach. Especially since just that morning, I had to say good-bye to a pair of pants that I couldn't zip up.

Ahhhh, those sweet, honest children. That's what I thought until last night. I am now nearly 17 weeks. When I was helping the kids turn on a movie, Makayla commented rather abruptly, "Mom, every time I look at you, your stomach is bigger."

Thank you for your honesty, Makayla.