Sunday, November 30, 2008

What Happened To Make Believe?


It's raining here in Virginia today. Cold. Wet. Miserable rain! The girls woke up early this morning and I heard the click of the Christmas lights being turned on. Kacey tested at a 167...I'm thinking theres a Lantus change coming this week. She's doing great with the 1:15 ratio though! We had breakfast and then put on some Christmas music. Kacey then convinced Kayleigh to play dolls with her. I sat here watching my 14 year old and my 8 year old playing with the Playschool Family Dollhouse. They set up all the rooms and I listened to them "make believe" and it got me thinking....


What happened to playing Make Believe?


I remember as a child saying stuff like "You pretend....." and "I'll pretend...." but I rarely hear that these days. It seems the kids now a days just don't play make believe like we did when we were little. Of course, I'm 33 years old now, but I can remember playing Barbies...making forts and playing house....and dress up like it was yesterday! I remember playing outside until it was dark and my Mom having to call us in to eat dinner. Hide & Seek....Red Rover...Freeze Tag....Hopscotch....all those games that kids these days don't play or they don't even know how to play!


So I listened to them closely play together...even as old as they are...they were pretending and actually getting along instead of picking at one another. It made my heart smile and I feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about my childhood. It might be cold and wet outside....but it's warm in here :)


What are some of your best childhood "make believe" memories?

3 comments:

Cara said...

I think it's crazy that kids don't make believe anymore. It's sad. They don't seem to have any capacity to make stuff up. :) Teaching taught me that.
I loved playing outside when I was little. I'd go out in the morning with my little backpack and my snacks and go play for hours and then come in for lunch.
I loved playing school (it stuck with me!). That was one of my favorites.

Anonymous said...

It is kind of sad. I'm 32 and remember playing forts, outside all the time, snow castles, leaf jumping, etc. With all of the video games and movies, it's hard to get kids to make due without them.

Sometimes kids actually just need a little less to get them thinking, pretending and playing with friends instead of stuck by a tv.

Jill said...

Cara- I loved playing school too! LOL and I ended up teaching for 8 yrs!!

Tony- I'm 33 and I remember doing all that too! I think the schools put alot on the kids too. We never had the amount of homework that my kids do. I remember getting off the bus, tossing my backpack and running out with friends and then not coming in til dark for dinner, bath and bedtime. When my girls come home, Kacey has at least an hour of homework and Kayleigh (my high schooler) has anywhere from 1-4 hours worth! There are times I make her put her homework up because it makes me so mad that they put that much pressure on these kids! And then, like you said, video games is another bummer! I remember being fortunate enough to have an Atari (yikes!) but I never had a nintendo or PS ...or even a gameboy. My girls have gameboys and a PS2 (only cuz my brother gave it to them) LOL! How deprived are they? *giggles* On Thanksgiving, we had the chance to experience the Wii for the first time (scary huh? LOL!) and it was excellent for Kacey! She's always been a bit on the "chunky" side and she was sweating and having fun...not to mention it kept her blood sugars in a great range! I'm still torn as to whether I'm going to get them one for Christmas. My husband thinks we should since it was such a great workout but that part of me says if we do, then there will be a time limit on it for sure! LOL...call me a Non-gaming Mommy! I think Kacey would have just as much fun with her new bike I already got her ;)