Hi everyone!
One of the privileges of being a mom is the privilege of watching our children’s imagination at work when they play.
To her great regret, Kayla doesn’t have any brothers or sisters to play with, but she uses her imagination (and sometimes the dogs) to make up for that. I had the chance to get a peek into her play world this weekend, and wanted to share it with you.
Kayla has often said that she wants to be a teacher. Saturday morning, she decided to play teacher, and set up her school. When I walked in her room to check on what she was doing, I couldn’t resist grabbing the camera!
At the moment I walked in, she was taking a break.
(I admit that sparkling lemonade and pickles won’t work for everyone as a snack – it certainly doesn’t for me – but she likes them.)
Then she noticed I had the camera.
Oh no, she's taking pictures again!
Although she wasn’t thrilled at first, she decided after a moment’s reflection that having a class photographer would be a good thing, so she continued playing.
First she taught her class:
Then she allowed me to meet her students and view the various seating arrangements. Since many of the stuffed animals in the class are old friends, I was happy to see them.
Three of the seven student class (originally it was a nine student class, but Darwin and Mandy high-tailed it out of the room as soon as I opened the door), Abby, Sparks and Ruffy (from right to left), were provided with the lid of the toy box as their desk, and were seated firmly between the toy box and the bed. Kayla had furnished them with name tags, and allowed them to start work.
Ruffy, Sparks and Abby's work
Abby and Sparks are twins, and younger than Ruffy. They both came from the local Build-A-Bear workshop. Ruffy is a little older; he was bought to be a little brother to Scruffy and Fluffy by my husband when he spent a week in Boston on business once. Scruffy (not shown – Kayla said he was the oldest and was in a different class) is the first Build-A-Bear Kayla ever owned, and is a stuffed dog. She had slipped Scruffy (leaving his sister/twin Fluffy, a stuffed rabbit, at home) into Mark’s suitcase, and about four days into the trip, Mark told her that Scruffy kept getting in trouble by turning the TV on when Mark wasn’t in his room, so he bought Ruffy to keep Scruffy company. Kayla loved it!
The next three members of the seven student class were, again from left to right, Gatlin, Fluffy and Ana.
Kayla decided to join their picture and have a little fun at the same time:
They also had been provided with name tags and had started their work:
The last member of the class, Gale, was tucked behind a wooden chest, which she was using as her desk.
I think she was apart from the others because she was smaller, and Kayla wanted her protected. However, Gale also had managed to start on her work:
Kayla set up everything I have shown you so far on her own before she ever knew that I was going to come in and take pictures. However, we collaborated on the final pictures, since we both decided that every class needs a class picture. The first picture was just of the students.
Then we took one of the class with their teacher.
After that, I was forced to leave the world of my child’s imagination for the much more mundane task of doing laundry, but that was okay. Class continued until lunchtime, at which time it abruptly came to a halt as all of the students were hastily scooped into Kayla’s closet so she could eat.
Kids are fun!
Have a great day everyone!
Nancy
Tales from the Mom-Side 
How sweet! She has a very organized classroom and it looks like all are having a blast learning. Not an easy accomplishment! I see a teacher in your future! : )
Yes, it is a very organized classroom. Of course, it is not nearly as organized when she gets ready to put everything up! You should hear her when “her kids” get in trouble, too…….
Sounds like a teacher trying to get through the average day…never enough time to put everything back into the right spot! : )
She seems to have a chronic shortage of time, then, based on the state of her closet!
Too cute! This reminds me so much of me as a kid. And I did have little sisters (who refused to play school with me). I created lesson plans, decorated my bedroom and made name tags for my “students” too. What an imaginative little girl you have!
Wonderful! Do you teach now? I taught high school and middle school math for three years when I was first married. Kayla’s imagination continually amazes me; in our commute back and forth this summer, we have (not by my choice) been listening to Radio Disney, so now about halfway through the ride Kayla wants to turn the radio off and play disc jockey. Her station is called “Radio is Good”, and for some reason, I am always supposed to be the 18th caller and win a prize when I “call” in!
How sweet! Sophia does the same kind of thing, as she is without siblings as well. Here in Brazil, having an only child is the same kind of social abomination as raising pigs in your kitchen. Total strangers and mothers at her school alike have told me I will ruin her life if I don’t have another child. And since that’s not happening, I was wondering how it is working out for you guys? Any huge downsides to the only child scenario (or perhaps I’m better off not knowing…)
Kayla is an only child, but we have three indoor dogs that she uses for company. I think she gets a little lonely sometimes, but that has gotten better since she started school. She does think that other kids with brothers and sisters are the luckiest children in the world. But no, we haven’t noticed any big downsides to having an only child. I hope this helps some.
It does. Thanks. I worry about her being lonely, but we have her in school. I was the oldest of four, and I wanted nothing more than to be an only child! She also has cousins, so I hope that will be a happy medium.
That is great that she has cousins her age around! That will help a lot with her being lonely.
We love and miss you guys! I enjoy the blog!
Thanks! We love and miss all of you too! Hopefully we can get together soon.