If I had a dollar for every time she started a sentence with “How ’bout…” I’d be writing this from a very comfy chair in my dream home overlooking a lake.
“How ’bout you be Miss Mary and I be Mama and Goo (her beloved Curious George) be Miss Nichole.” (Our midwives.)
“How ’bout you be Man with Yewow Hat and I be Goo.”
“How ’bout I be Cash and you be Ellie and Daddy be baby Jackson.” (Friends of ours.)
She then proceeds to stay in character and dialogues as if we actually WERE those characters…for as long as we can physically stand it or until we get interrupted (I owe you one, Fed Ex man!). I’ve sure learned A LOT about myself when she is playing me. ;)
We were really pushed to expand the other day when she said to me and Jason, “How ’bout you be Lucy, I’ll be Mama, and Daddy — you be Mama.” I think our heads about exploded. It was tough to stay in (the right) character.
Today had me laughing out loud. Our friend let us borrow their large exercise ball and she spent the entire morning pushing it around. The ball was Lucy, I was Mama, and she was Daddy. At one point, I was lying in her bed with the ball (covered by a blanket, naturally) because there were “boom booms” out (aka thunder storm), so we had to sleep together. I had a bit of an out of body experience: realizing that I was cuddling with and comforting a blanket-covered exercise ball…and with my 34 week belly was touching the ball — what a site!
Imagination.
Where did mine go? And at what point did I stop using it to the degree that Lucy is able to?
Maybe our lives as grown-ups is full enough. Maybe we don’t have any extra time or energy to spend on imagining. But there are lots of benefits we can gain from it. The über popular book/movie “The Secret” that came out a few years ago talks about the same thing in grown-up language: visioning.
I don’t need to belabor the entire point of “The Secret” but it is pretty interesting to think about how much happier we would be if we took a little time to exercise our imagination muscles.
Maybe on the commute, while doing dishes, vacuuming, or just waiting in the dentist office… why not put the iPhone down, turn off Facebook, and spend a few minutes imagining.
Imagine…
- something awesome happening to you
- your dream vacation
- yourself growing old with those you love, healthy and happy
- recovery and good health for someone you know who is battling an illness
- future adventures with your favorite people
You don’t have to act it out like Lucy does, but I really don’t think you need to in order to gain something from the exercise. One thing I know for sure: Lucy sure is happy when she’s using her imagination.
Why not dust off the ‘ol imagination and have some fun seeing where it takes you?