Imaginary play

Imaginary play has taken over.

Sure, Isaac's play has always involved imagination. There's imitative play, when he pretends to cook or clean; there's symbolic play, when he builds with blocks or drives little vehicles; and there's role-playing, when he'll announce we're both kittens cuddled together in a hayloft.

But the role-playing has intensified in the last few weeks. In the course of 30 minutes, Isaac will assume a dozen different roles (usually announcing the arrival and departure of each): tree service guy, nurse, doctor, bus driver, a mischievous boy named Matt, Loader Driver, a deer walking past, Loopy the dog, construction worker, my daddy, a baby, and a cow about to eat the lawn. (And there are more!)

This type of play usually happens while we're outside, which means he's doing it while I'm pulling weeds, or spreading a wheelbarrow full of mulch, or fertilizing plants, or building a retaining wall. He sometimes works right alongside me (he's a good weed-puller), but of course he's always playing as he works, and he frequently gets caught up in his latest role.

A few of these roles are old favorites (Loader Driver and Loopy), and some are brand-new. Many are based on Isaac's real-world experiences, and a few come from books (although in the book Matt is very helpful, so I don't know why he's such a pain in the neck in Isaac's interpretation). Some require props (the nurse likes to jab me with a pine-needle syringe), but most of them are purely mental exercises. To be a deer walking past, all he needs to do is announce that he's a deer, and then he starts rustling around in the bushes, trying to startle me.

He doesn't seem to need me to play with him to enjoy these games, so I admit I don't physically participate unless asked to do so. And he really has to insist, as when the bus driver demands that I get on the bus (that is, sit down on the swinging bench next to him). I'm not totally ignoring him, though, as I'm usually participating verbally, whether acting out my role in the game or asking him questions to keep the game going. I'm pretty sure he'd like me to be more involved, though.

I'm proud of his imagination, and I feel like it's good for him to be able to play so successfully on his own, but sometimes I do feel guilty. After he's gone to bed at night these days, I find myself wondering if I played enough with him during the day. Sure, my garden looks great, but am I missing out on something even better?

Especially because I've just been talking about how perfect he is lately!