Items
topic_interest is exactly
imagination
-
2020
Magical Summer!
Because of all the restrictions in place last summer, it was hard to watch all the kids in the neighborhood try and find stuff to keep them occupied and happy. I live next door to three little girls. So one day, when they were not home, I built a small fairy house on the tree between our yards. The girls believed that a fairy had moved in and they couldn't be more excited. Every few days or so I would go and sprinkle glitter around the house so it looked like the fairy was walking around the house. It was so much fun to hear the girls yell in excitement when they saw new glitter or a new addition to the fairy house. It made them and happy and it made me happy. Of course, their parents knew it was me, but to their young imaginations, a real live fairy was living in their yard. -
2021-04-21
COVID Safety Squirrels
I have an incredibly imaginative six year old son. Since he was three, he has told us each day which identity he is choosing for the day: duck, bird, duckbird, squirrel, bunny, or chipmunk. (This list has grown over time). He doesn’t actually act like that type of animal, or really alter his behavior or personality at all, but will refer to himself as “Duckbird” or “Baby Bird” and expects you to refer to him as such. And every once in a while will respond with a “quack,” or whatever noise is appropriate for that animal identity. For Squirrel (who is now our “house president” - apparently he won an election none of us were privy to), there is an ongoing theme of a Squirrel Parade that shows up and disrupts everything going on. This is not something that came out of COVID, the Squirrel Parade predates it (we live next to Disneyland and in a pre-COVID life went to the park at least once a week - the kid has seen a lot of parades). However, the Squirrel Parade has definitely evolved with the pandemic. It is remarkable how COVID has seamlessly become part of a kid’s imagination. The Squirrel Parade, which always included King Squirrel, the Throwing Nuts Squirrels, and the Trumpet Squirrels among others now includes the “COVID Safety Squirrels.” When we asked my son who they are, he said they’re the squirrels that hand out masks and hand sanitizer and make sure everyone social distances. It wasn’t strange to him, just another part of the parade. I guess for little kids this isn’t strange to them. I mean, it is. But it’s also not. Just another thing to learn along with multiplication tables. Put on a mask and keep your distance, and the parade marches on. -
2021-01-19
The Happy Little Chef
The media focuses a lot on the losses children are facing during the pandemic. And while I certainly would prefer that the virus was contained and my son would be able to attend school in person, take piano lessons with his piano teacher beside him instead of on a Facetime call, and play with a friend outside of his older sister, my six year old son is genuinely enjoying quarantine. I realize this is a privilege - we have a backyard, space, two working adults who can afford food and technology, and a live-in grandma who can help with any distance learning issues. But my son seems to be thriving in this much simpler and quieter life. We always did a lot together as a family, but we did not spend a lot of time actually at home. Now that we’ve been home together for over ten months, we have settled into this new life that involves my son helping my husband make dinner every night. And he LOVES it. It’s not as though he had never cooked before, but to be able to do it every night, side by side with his dad is an experience he did not have in our pre-quarantine life that was much faster paced and on the go. Many nights, the little chef will bring me a menu that outlines the dinner and asks for my order. He takes such pride in telling all of us what parts of the meal he was in charge of. He assures us he is both the owner and the “cooker” of the restaurant and that his daddy is his employee. When dinner is over, he asks to take my plate, and has recently become very interested in washing all the dinner dishes himself (no complaints here). I certainly long for the day that we can go back out in the world, but I feel very blessed that my son will be able to look back at this year with happiness, even in the midst of such a dire situation. -
2020-08-18
Staying openminded and self-improving during COVID-19
During COVID-19 for me, as a teenager, staying in my room for almost 2 months was extremely hard and seemed unachievable. I had to manage with a ton of stress and anxiety as isolation was not a part of my natural habitat. However, after some period of time, it came to my mind that I have to find a substitution for hanging out with friends and doing outdoor activities. One of my hobbies and new addictions was going to my mom’s bookshelf and picking out books that have caught my eye. On the image above are three books that made me fall in love with literature and made me open my individual thoughts to myself. Through the words of other authors, I was able to not feel alone and get closer with my emotions and inner beliefs. This kind of activity made me devour myself into the stories and lives of the characters that substituted my isolated life and created a safe place for my imagination and conceptions. I am extremely grateful that I was able to explore this new part of my personality and extend my inner world during such a hard time as the pandemic. -
2020-06-10
Molly's Quarantine Performance
Centerville, Utah (June, 2020)- My daughter is a creative soul; she loves to sing, dance and act out her vivid imagination. She loves the theatre and going to summer camp. COVID-19 stopped her from doing that this year. But Molly is resourceful and resilient, and even found opportunity to perform in her Anna costume for all her family at her own birthday party. The arts have a way of making us whole, filling us up with joy and hope; even in the midst of a pandemic. For the little ones, they always find a way back to their imagination and the safety it provides.