When Mazzy and I are done reading bedtime books, she will often request I tell her a made-up story.
I know this is just a ploy to keep me in her bedroom for as long as possible after lights out (her bedtime stalling tactics are pretty legendary), but sometimes the opportunity to make up stories with my three-year-old is just too adorable to resist.
She usually gives me one of five story plot options:
1) The dog that wants a bone
2) Mazzy teaches a duck how to swim
3) The cow that wants some grass
4) The sheep that wants some grass (not to be confused with the cow)
5) The pig that's looking for mud
Then I try to set up a scenario where there is some obstacle to overcome (There's a drought so the pig can't find water to make mud! The dog goes to the pet store but he left his wallet at home!) before the inevitable happy ending.
Recently, Mazzy switched it up and asked me to tell her a story about her friends playing on the slide. I was tired (having already told both the cow and the sheep story) so I said something like…
"Mazzy's friends wanted to play on the slide. So they found a slide. And they played on it. And they were so happy! The end."
Mazzy was not satisified. "But theeeeen…. the teacher said they couldn't play on the slide…." she continued.
Was my three-year-old daughter actually trying to develop the plot?
I tried again.
"But then the teacher said they had to stop playing on the slide because they had to go in for lunch. So they ate lunch and waited very patiently for school to be over. And when it was over, they ran to the playground where the slide was still there waiting for them. So they slid down the silde and were sooooo happy! The end."
"But theeeeeen… the slide wasn't there…"
"No, the slide was there."
"No, it wasn't!"
It was like she knew good stories involved a beginning, a middle and an end and I had shortchanged her from a proper dramatic story arc. That all stories, even ones told to a three-year-old, must have a little bit of tension.
"Okay, so Mazzy and her friends couldn't find the slide. And they said, 'Oh no! What are we going to do?!' and then Mazzy suggested they walk around the neighborhood to see if they could find a different slide. And they walked and walked and walked until they turned a corner and saw a playground they had never seen before with a slide that was even better than the first silde. And they played on it and were so happy! The end."
"But theeeeeeen…."
Apparently, Mazzy was also learning how to prolong a story unnecessarily. If she wrote a movie, it would be Titanic.
"But theeeeeen…. the old woman still has the heart necklace…"
Mazzy discovering her imagination is one of the most thrilling things to watch as a parent. Every day we are faced with a slew of imaginary friends and made-up scenarios.
She makes me pretend to be a monster so she can run away screaming. She welcomes invisible little people to sit down and drink tea. She has created safe places within the house where tigers cannot reach her. (One time, I was able to con her into cuddling, because I told her my bed was the only place that was safe from polar bears.)
Last night, Mazzy decided to swim the length of the living room in a race against several stuffed animal competitors. When she finished the pretend race in a pretend pool (to much pretend fanfare from Pooh and friends), she announced she was getting a prize.
"What's your prize?"
"A lollipop!"
"Okay! Congratulations! Here's your lollipop!" I said, grabbing a bit of air and handing her a pretend treat.
"No, Mom. A REAL LOLLIPOP!"
Right. Mazzy also knows when it is to her benefit to separate fiction from reality.
She's pretty smart, that kid.
Yesterday, I found the brilliant short film "The Scared is Scared" on Rants from Mommyland. It's directed by a student named Bianca Giaever (yay! woman director!) who asked a six-year-old boy what her movie should be about and then filmed everything he said.
It is, in a word, AWESOME.
Above all else, the film reminds us why it's so amazing to have kids. Because along with tough love and epic tantrums, comes the opportunity to witness a creative mind taking shape and coming to life.
It is a fascinating, heartwarming, hilarious and beautiful thing.
the Scared is scared from Bianca Giaever on Vimeo.
I love this!!!!
This is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing it.
“Okay. I’m fine.”
Mazzy’s teachers are going to love her imagination when it comes time for her to write in class!
I adore my daughter’s imagination. It’s one of the things I love most about her. To sit and watch her playing with her “peoples” (little toy figures and her dollhouse dolls) and stuffed animals (her “friends” she calls them) is nothing short of magical. She makes up these elaborate stories – and what kills me is that she actually remembers them days later! And there’s always one lone dissenter in the group who’s not doing his or her best job and has to go sit in timeout.
I don’t think she’d ever allow me to tell her a made-up bedtime story, though, because she wouldn’t be able to keep herself from interjecting and hijacking the tale. Sometimes she’ll take actual books, give them new titles, and then flip through them making up her own story as she goes. It’s an amazing testament to her comprehension and inference skills and it makes me so proud.
That was great!
Just watched it (hadn’t when I first commented up there about Mazzy). So precious! Have you seen any Kid History episodes? Some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever seen!
This is really cute! I love it!
What great advice from a little kid! Love it. 🙂
Another amazing post – how do you do it?
The video was awesome – thanks for sharing it 🙂
This might be my new favorite movie. I love it soooo much! I also love Mazzy’s five usual story options, and you’re a super mom for indulging them.
This was fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing! I cannot wait to show my 4 year old 🙂
I agree, discovering new abilities in our children is really magical, especially their imagination! Mazzy is doing great, making up plot lines and extending the story (hehe)!!
Ahhh! That was the sweetest little movie. That kid is wise beyond his years. “Scared is scared of all the things you like”… Brilliant! haha I can’t wait until my girls can start telling stories like this. 🙂
Not only is there a good (ney, GREAT) message in this film, but the kid even gets her own THEME SONG! 6 years old…now what? THE WORLD!!!
With her imaginationm maybe Mazzy will have a film debut at age 6 too.
The crazy thing is I tend to get lost in the imagining too…my 4 year old next door neighbor and I were playing pretend where we were princesses and her 2 year old brother was a dragon. I love hearing what kids come up with and just going for it, all in. Fighting dragons with a 4 year old on a rainy day-there’s seriously nothing better.
Oh wow that was amazing. Thanks for sharing, love watching these little minds grow.
I get requests for these stories ALL THE TIME from the boys. I totally let them hijack the story. Toby always wants stories about the time when the Toby Mouse met the (friendly) dragon. And both of them like the story about the day the Asa Bear and Toby Mouse made a soap box derby car. So the characters were totally already there, but this story was all Asa. And the whole moral thing, who the heck knows where that came from. Isn’t it interesting to find out what kids are thinking?
This is the best idea! Im an art teacher, and I love to see how smart and creative children are. Its wonderful to see new ways of facilitating this creativity.I think this must be my favorite post.