PLAY LIKE or PRETEND

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We were eating at 5 Guys in Wichita October 2nd around 2:30 and we were the only ones in the restaurant at that time. While we were eating a woman came in the west door I was facing. She had two little girls with her who were probably 3-5 years old. But it is hard for me to tell since I never had kids.

The two little girls were dressed cute in little shorts and tops. When I looked at their faces as they came into the restaurant I couldn’t help but smile. They were looking right at me, probably to see if I’d notice their hair accessory.

They were both sporting headbands with black cat ears on the top. Their ears were smaller than the ones in the picture and were really cute. One of the girls was walking and swinging her arms like she was a stalking cat. I gave them a big smile and they both smiled back, happy that someone had noticed them.

Their mother picked up an order to go and as they headed to the door they looked back over at me. When I smiled again they started stalking like a cat again as they left the restaurant. They sure were cute with the little black cat ears on their heads and pretending they were cats on the prowl.

I wish I’d asked to take a picture of them but I didn’t think fast enough. I already had the idea for this story when they left the restaurant, and wish I had a picture of them to go with it. A picture of the two little girls would have been cute at the top of the story.

It is always fun to catch kids as they play like or pretend they are something else or they are doing something fun. I remember a time when I did a lot of play like or pretend with a friend who was the daughter of my parent’s friends.

We did so much play like and talked so fast that it sounded more like plak. But we knew what we meant and that was all that counted when we were talking to each other. My mom said the adults would chuckle when we got started playing with the paper dolls we cut out of her mother’s catalogue and would plak they were a family.

Using our imaginations when we were growing up was good for us. It made our minds and imaginations work as we made our own fun and made up our own games. My friend and I cut up her mother’s catalogues all the time and used the adults and the kids as our paper dolls.

We also cut out items from the catalogue to use in our play like or pretend house on the floor. When we were finished playing house with the catalogue paper dolls, the paper dolls were wadded up and thrown away. Next time we played together we cut out new ones.

My favorite pretend game was baking when I was 2-4 years old. I had a little set of dishes and baking pans and I would make cakes and pies and cookies with the red dirt in Medicine Lodge. Since there weren’t any kids my age near by I had to make up my own fun.

My dog Brownie was always by my side but he wasn’t very interested in making mud pies and cookies, but he always stayed with me. When the cookies were baked, or dry, I would place them on a little plate. Then Brownie and I would welcome the mailman when he came by. I would give him a couple of baked (or dried) cookies to take along with him on his route. He would thank me and tuck the cookie in his shirt pocket as he left the yard.

The two little girls we saw that day were sure into their pretend game. They had the cat prowl down to a T and were really having fun. It was fun to see them prowl and watch us to see if we noticed their cute little cat ears.  They made our lunch brighter with their little smiles and the cat ears on their heads.

I hope kids are still using their imaginations, like the two little girls we saw that day, instead of just playing games on the computers and other devices. It was always fun for me to make up my own games and rules as I’d play pretend with my friend. To contact Sandy: [email protected]

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