Making Fun

I've often been thankful for our children's ability to entertain themselves. They have great imaginations, and the things they can come up with amaze me sometimes. When Aden came to me this week and asked for something to do, I responded with my usual list of the housework begging to be done. Not surprisingly, he chose to invent his own fun instead. Inspired by a series he's been reading lately, he came up with his own restaurant, named Aden's Pirate Ship. He spent quite a long time making signs and creating themed menus. Then he gathered a stack of plates and cups and set up tables and chairs in the boys' room. When all was ready, he announced the Grand Opening, the moment his brothers and Emma had been waiting for. The best part for them may have been that every child who came to the restaurant was given a toy car. We placed our orders, and I was a little worried that Emma might expect a real serving of macaroni and cheese, but she did just fine with the pretend fare. Aden was beaming as he took orders and filled them, proud to have his restaurant operating and every table filled. And I was thrilled to see the children spend their time playing together in a creative way. I celebrated the success by paying Aden a gold coin (chocolate) and gave one to each of the other customers as well.

Two days later, Aden's 'business' was the "Daily Report" newspaper, chronicling the highlights of news in our household. Perhaps that will provide the inspiration for a few posts on the blog . . . or perhaps Aden is setting himself up as a future contributor.