![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
One of Graeme's favorite games is to read pretend books. He'll snatch a pretend book out of thin air, open his palms out to examine it, and begin telling the story he finds inside. He likes us to do the same and it makes for an excellent game in the car, during diaper changes, anytime when a quiet storytelling exchange is in order.
Yesterday, it evolved into playacting.
We were laying in bed together, talking, when he discovered an invisible book on the coverlet. His story went like this:
Once upon a time, far away, there was a butterfly named Fairy. She was looking for nectar to eat and flew into a dark bear's cave. Fairy was afraid of bears! The bear was afraid of butterflies! The bear roared and fell, hurting his back. The butterfly poured cold water onto his back where it was hurt and then kissed it to make it better. "Do you want to be friends?", she asked the bear. The bear said, "Sure!". The two of them left the cave and found a big, big flower tree that was green and brown with lots of pink flowers for Fairy to drink from. The End.
Then it was my turn to read a pretend book. Graeme handed one over that, he said, was about a bear. I began to retell a familiar story about a butterfly and a bear, only from the point of view of the bear. Graeme was spellbound and by the time the two had retired to the sunny meadow with the giant flowering tree together, was determined to playact the story with me.
"I need to get my bear costume", Graeme said.
"Your pretend bear costume?"
"No! I need a real one!"
I rummaged in his old things until I found his fuzzy teddy bear coat with the ears on the hood. He was content wearing it as a cape draped over his head. I dug out a pair of my fairy wings so that I could play the butterfly and we spent maybe half an hour acting out the story and them improvising further scenes in their unlikely friendship. It was pure magic. At one point, I went and got my "fairy camera" and we took pictures of each other while eating imaginary berries.
Later in the afternoon, he wanted to dress up as a "cowboy butterfly" and then run around with a musical chant of "flutter flutter flutter flutter--Howdy!". I live a charmed life.
Yesterday, it evolved into playacting.
We were laying in bed together, talking, when he discovered an invisible book on the coverlet. His story went like this:
Once upon a time, far away, there was a butterfly named Fairy. She was looking for nectar to eat and flew into a dark bear's cave. Fairy was afraid of bears! The bear was afraid of butterflies! The bear roared and fell, hurting his back. The butterfly poured cold water onto his back where it was hurt and then kissed it to make it better. "Do you want to be friends?", she asked the bear. The bear said, "Sure!". The two of them left the cave and found a big, big flower tree that was green and brown with lots of pink flowers for Fairy to drink from. The End.
Then it was my turn to read a pretend book. Graeme handed one over that, he said, was about a bear. I began to retell a familiar story about a butterfly and a bear, only from the point of view of the bear. Graeme was spellbound and by the time the two had retired to the sunny meadow with the giant flowering tree together, was determined to playact the story with me.
"I need to get my bear costume", Graeme said.
"Your pretend bear costume?"
"No! I need a real one!"
I rummaged in his old things until I found his fuzzy teddy bear coat with the ears on the hood. He was content wearing it as a cape draped over his head. I dug out a pair of my fairy wings so that I could play the butterfly and we spent maybe half an hour acting out the story and them improvising further scenes in their unlikely friendship. It was pure magic. At one point, I went and got my "fairy camera" and we took pictures of each other while eating imaginary berries.
Later in the afternoon, he wanted to dress up as a "cowboy butterfly" and then run around with a musical chant of "flutter flutter flutter flutter--Howdy!". I live a charmed life.
