Imagination

Growing almost as fast as my children is their imagination. The stories they are coming up with are absolutely hilarious. Granted, most of them are based on TV episodes, so I wont give them too much credit. For all of you toddler TV aficionados, this will be a great test of your TV knowledge. I will name the scenario and see if you can pick up where they got it from. You can have 3 chances.

The girls have decided that our half bath downstairs is now a "Tall Tower". You can still go potty in there, but you are going potty in the tall tower. Once one goes in, the other one shuts the door and will not open it until they hear the magic word, "Abre"

Answer: Ok, too easy, I mean there is Spanish in it. Obviously Dora the Explorer. The episode that the witch locks the prince in a tall tower and he needs to rescued by Boots and Dora.

We recently had a fight between the girls since Maddie had one of my dish towels, which she claimed was a "magic carpet". Ruthie went to sit on Maddie's magic carpet and Maddie flipped out that (and I quote)"The magic carpet wont go super high in the sky with Ruthie on it!". Crisis averted by getting Ruthie a dish towel, I mean, magic carpet.

Answer: This one is courtesy of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, episode Donald of the Desert where they have a magic carpet.

We recently got a sandbox for the girls in the backyard. They continually ask me to come outside and play with them in the sandbox. When out there, they usually give me a shovel and tell me to dig for the treasure chest. It usually only takes 1 or 2 digs before it is announced that it has been found! When I ask them what is inside they let me know that it is costumes! They then pull out a pirate eye patch, boots and a hat.

Answer: Dora the Explorer Pirates, of course! Thanks to those wonderful Pirate Piggies who steal the treasure chest of costumes and they cant do the play without their pirate costumes.

Scoring

1/3 You probably just guessed Dora the Explorer on that first one, not too impressive

2/3 You watch a significant amount of Nick Jr. and Disney channel, but it hasnt all infiltrated your brain quite yet

3/3 This post makes complete sense to you because you have a child that is doing the exact same thing

Probably the biggest thing they have picked up from Dora is their backpacks. Here is a picture of Maddie showing you her backpack. Obviously there is a back pack there. It is in plain site people. And what does an almost three year old keep in her imaginary backpack? There is ALWAYS a rope in there. This comes in handy when they drop things (not really) that the rope will help them pick up. Usually there is a bandaid in there, for the occasional boo-boo.* A spare change of clothes and a hat is usually in there also. Only when it rains is an umbrella in there.

*Complete side note. I put the girls in babysitting at the YMCA to play volleyball and when I came back they informed me that BOTH of them had found red crayon and colored all over one of the baby doll's heads. When the worker asked them why they informed her that the baby had a boo-boo. Maddie offered a bandaid, conveniently located in her backpack, of course!

Ruthie has become a stuffed animal/baby doll child. She brings a bear or Baby Lulu with her where ever we go. Baby LuLu actually walked down the aisle at my brother in laws wedding. We werent given much choice. Ruthie refused to move without LuLu. Bear and LuLu come in the car also. If there is a place they can not come into, they must be buckled in to Ruthie's carseat for safe keeping. In the course of a day they will usually get sick and need to go to the doctor, get several baths in the sink in the bathroom and get put down for several naps because they are tired.

I have to admit that this has been such a fun stage with them. We have run into a couple problems with their imaginary situations, like the magic carpet, or the fact that one wants to have a beach party and the other wants to have a tea party, but very manageable. With their imaginations have come some awesome play time between the two. They really are into playing with each other and involving the other in their stories they have created. (I had a really cute video to insert here, but the server seems to be acting up, so i will try to do that later.).