Birthday Bear

While I was preparing breakfast this morning, the little girl came to me asking for her party hats. I thought it was for the usual clapping and jumping while singing the birthday song. I don't know if I had mentioned it before but she's in a birthday song craze now. In fact, not just the song, but the whole blowing candles and cutting cake thing.

After I had gotten the party hats, I realised that it wasn't for her but it was for Mama Bear, one of her favourite bears. Mama Bear was propped on her kitchen top and she had taken out her cake and candles from her kitchen cabinet. And with the party hats on Mama Bear and her, and candles in place, she started clapping and jumping while singing the birthday song for Mama Bear.

Putting the candles in place

Mama Bear was ready for her party

After singing, she promptly removed the party hats and the candles from the cake. I watched quietly and wondered what she would do next. She looked for her plastic knife and started cutting the cake. Then it was time to eat the cake for Mama Bear and her, complete with, "Mmmm, nice!"

What are you doing there?

Oh, cutting the cake for Mama Bear!

I thought she was done after that but she wasn't. She took the party hats and candles again, and repeated the whole process a few more times till breakfast was ready and I had to stop her play. Such a delight to watch her play and especially so since the role-playing was totally initiated by her. 

I've read a dozen times before, if not more, how child-directed, independent play is the best kind of play and I can't agree more. Firstly, it gives the care-giver some much-needed time and space to do whatever that is necessary such as food preparation and housework. Secondly, it gives the child the opportunity to explore and do whatever he/she fancies without adult interruption and direction. 

In an ideal world, I wish that I would do very little teaching to my little girl and let her learn on her own. I constantly battle my own will not to teach and show her how things are done mostly because I know that is not the most ideal. And most times when I show her how something is done, I end up doing the playing as she will ask me to do it again and again. So who's the one playing then?

For now, let me live in my own make-believe world, where play is all that matters for the little girl, before reality sets in.