Dress up

In class Tuesday we discussed dress up. Thinking about dress up brings up so many fun memories I had as a child. I could probably think of a million things I chose to dress up as, but my overall favorite was school teacher. I have one older sibling and one younger sibling. My older sister would usually take charge of me and make me do all her crazy assignments. When I had the chance or when my sister was not around I would start playing teacher to my little brother. There was just something about being older and making my own rules that gave me joy out of make-believe. I got to tell my little brother to spell this and do that and follow me here and go get that. It was even better when he actually listened to me.
Now that I am older and have a child myself, I notice how much fun my son has when he is in dress up land. One day he is superman and the next day he is my own personal chef. We have made blankets and towels and clothes into capes just for his enjoyment. If I sit there and observe him I can tell that he really is in his own little world. He has the most fun when his dad and I play along as superwomen and baker. After we talked about how children use hats and glasses and shoes to make believe, I noticed that, that very night my son wore my glasses. He came into the living room and pretended he was “mommy.” That glasses symbolized me and being an adult.