Pretend Play Dress Up

Backdate 30th July 2013

♥Pretend Play Dress-Up♥

Logo & Crown: $0.70 (jotterbook recycled paper)
Cape & Skirt: Free (old linen napkins)
Amusement & Laughter: Music to my ears
Sheer joy & Happiness: Priceless

While watching tv earlier on, Lauren suddenly blurted out 'Mommy, I like to dress up as a princess!' and Sean who was sitting beside her chirped in, 'I like Superman! 'Cue Me-the-Mommy, who asked 'Ok, so who wants to play dress-up?' Immediately, resounding 'ME's chorused loudly as they danced around doing singsong 'Me's.

Did I share the same enthusiasm as them? Of course not. It was a long day and I was tired. The only thing I was enthusiastic about was maybe a spot of tv watching before bedtime. But neither did I have the heart to disappoint them. So off we went to play dressing-up.

All the time my brain was churning out 'creative' (read as cheapest, least fuss and messy) ways to 'dress them up' as we had actually nothing to begin with. In the end, I settled for good old paper, Scotch tape and colouring pencils. I didn't think there was much else I could scrap up at 8.30 at night.

In bid to get them involved, I made Lauren draw and colour the 'jewels' of her crown herself. Her writing skills were still quite weak so I had to help with both. I dug out her bag of accessories and she chose a necklace for herself just like the cartoon character  'Princess Sophia'. Short of letting her change out of her pj's into a dress, I tied a red-patterned old linen around her waist as a skirt.

Then I cut out a diamond shape and drew a big 'S' for Sean to colour on his Superman logo. He must really like this activity because he was colouring the letter nicely within the lines and in good strong strokes! I asked him if superman needed a belt and he said no, but he told me superman needed a cape. So I tied an old linen napkin around his shoulders for the cape.

Scotchtape-up whatever odds and ends together, the logo to the t-shirt and VOILA! Superman and Princess were done! The whole process probably only took about twenty minutes but the boy was raring to go!

Once I told him it was all done, he zoomed outside to show grandparents and aunty. I am thankful that I have really sporting and supportive in-laws who were laughing and praising him. Lauren who was a little more shy, was seen hiding behind kor-kor and his cape for awhile before venturing out to show herself. I'm sure the kids provided some laughter and entertainment to the old folks tonight.

Soon after, enthusiasm dwindled and it was time for bed. It signaled the end of yet another exciting and tiring day for all of us.

I agree with some people who say that having kids are a challenge. And although today's challenge was a different kind, it was nevertheless still a challenge. As parents, we face a myraid of challenges daily in handling our kids. For some, it's trying to get the child to listen and follow instructions, or like in Lauren's case, it's a mammoth task trying to get her to finish her meals.Today, my challenge was in challenging myself out of my lazy mindset and how I could entertain and engage the kids, given basically no time to prepare.

In return, I learnt from them that they didn't need elaborate props or toys. More important was the time spent with them and the imagination to make everything as Super as possible! What we did today was a simple activity in every level. But we had fun! Instead of leaving them to watch tv, I'm glad for the spontaneity of the time and activity spent with the kids.

I hope that in their dreams tonight, they would be dreaming of themselves as invincible as Superman and as beautiful as a Princess.

On hindsight, I think I did quite a good job on superman, unfortunately the princess didn't turn out quite as imagined.But it's alright. I'll improve! :)