imagination.

When I was a little girl I remember trying to play "make believe" games with adults.  They never played right.  I don't know how to explain it, but I just remember getting frustrated with my mom or my babysitters because they just seemed to forget how to pretend.  I told myself that I would never forget how to pretend.

Today I hung out with my favorite four year old.  When I got to her house, we first played Barbies for awhile...and I found myself forgetting how to pretend. I definitely needed practice.  Then, we played a "make-believe" game where I am not quite sure what was going on, but we were trying to get away from bad people.  There were a lot of hiding, maps, and secret passageways involved.  Again, I found myself lost in her little world.  I had become one of those "adults" who didn't know how to play anymore.  Once I decided to just have fun with it, we had a blast.  We became our own heroines.  We were princesses escaping from a castle and the evil witch who locked us in there.  We had to be careful, or else her guards would put us back in the dungeon.  There were a few close calls, but luckily, Kinsey had the magic key and I had the magic maps that could get us out of any situation.  And when we finally made it back home, we celebrated by going to Chuck E Cheese's and getting our much deserved prizes!

On the way home, I was wondering, When do we stop using our imaginations?  When do we stop playing?  I remember the last time I saw adults playing "make-believe" and I just made fun of them..They were doing some role play game that was like related to World of Warcraft or something. Needless to say, it was wierd..  Maybe we don't stop using them...maybe we use them in different, more practical ways.  

I am grateful for today, for if nothing else, I was a princess who saved the day ;)