Sundays, Getting Into Character, and Progress

One of our son's favorite books is called, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." That describes our Sunday mornings. Sundays are not a day of rest in the morning while getting the kids ready for church, trying to get out the door, getting to our seats just after the meeting starts, juggling three kids and their snacks and toys without distracting the people around us (surely futile), etc. The afternoons are much better. We get home, eat lunch, relax, and play. Which brings me to acting.

My son asked me to be his assistant fire fighter, while he pretended to be the captain. Together we put out several fires in our living room. At first, I was half-heartedly going along with it. I noticed, however, that he began to lose his enthusiasm for the game. I decided to take my acting more seriously. I always remembered to get the pretend hose, and I actually began aiming it and making the proper sound effects, while he rescued pretend people from the fire and threw them in the back of the truck. His enthusiasm for the game increased again. He even let me drive the truck. He can obviously tell when I'm really into it or just playing along. When I'm just playing along, it ruins the game and seems to make him feel a little silly for wanting to play it in the first place. When I get into it, we both have a blast.

Now for progress. We had dinner in the car on the way to a family member's house, so no report on our son's appreciation (or lack thereof) for my wife's cooking. However, our daughter is beginning to understand "big voice" and "little voice." Now, all we have to do is remind her to use her little voice. I realized I needed to make some progress too. My wife helped me realize that part of the reason our daughter calls our names so much is so that she can talk to us more--she can talk much better now, so she is looking for excuses to practice talking. That is also part of the reason she often repeats her questions and answers. I've noticed she also does it with our son. I've been a little slow to pick up on this, but its already made a big difference in my thinking. Whereas before it was something I wanted to stop, now it is something I want to encourage--as long as it is with a little voice.