Taters thinks he’s a robot.
No, he believes he’s a robot. With his whole heart.

A few weeks ago, he informed me that he was actually a robot and had always been a robot. He said “You know, when I was in your belly I was plugged in to you with a cord in my tummy. You told me that. That means I was charging.”
He insists that he can fly (when jumping off my couch) because he has rockets in his feet that only his robot eyes can see. He also says that he’s going SUPER SPEED when he’s running.
I asked him why does he have to eat if he is a robot so he responded ,” Because, I am LIKE a human but I’m not a real human.”

Ahh the wonderful imagination of a 5 year old!

When the three older kids were little they LIVED in their super hero outfits. Handmade of course. The rag-tag things I sewed for them certainly didn’t look flashy like the store bought variety but oh they loved it. They felt on top of the world in their capes. Even better when a few years later their Grandma made them their own custom super hero outfits out of a silky colorful material. (we still have those)

Ninja had such an active imagination when he was four he told me a story with such detail, I wrote it down and published it. (it’s on Amazon, search My Warrior Princess) He really thought that a super hero princess was coming to his room at night to take him to a magical land called Manitory.

Hedgehog believed that he was going to marry a pink hedgehog named Amy and she would give birth to ten babies at a time in their car. (Taters was born in our van when Hedgehog was 3 ½ years old)

Mr. Responsible wanted to be Bob the tomato. Or a cat. Now at age 11 he still wishes to be a cat. (for those who remember me at his age….yes he IS a boy version of me. that’s a story for another time….)

Then there was the time that the three bigger boys wanted to dress up as Grandpa for halloween. We shaved the top of their hair and they were thrilled! Grandpa got such a kick out of it. The boys keep their hair like that for nearly a month!

The kids love to play with each other. Usually they get along pretty well.

I love playing with my kids. Especially the little ones. Over the years they have each come up with games of their own design, but by far the most popular one that has stuck with the kids ever since Mr. Responsible was 2 years old is the “Dripping Soup” game. (I wrote a children’s story book about it)

The children lay on a bed or couch pretending to be ingredients for soup. Mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, chicken, noodles….whatever their fancy is that day. I play the role of the Chef. I make them all tenderized (tickling their tummies) and then put them in the “pot” (the bed or couch) and they make bubbling noises to indicate that they are cooking. Then the “Chef” falls asleep (not really) and the dripping soup runs out of the pot and down the hall giggling all the way. I then chase them and try to catch them. If I catch them they go back in the pot after a good tickling.
They play another game that’s similar called Biscuits. Basically the same game except that they are biscuits and the bed or couch is an oven instead of a pot.

Another game they like to play is Roar. This one has changed a little thru each child. Mr. Responsible and Ninja called it “Monsters” but then Hedgehog wanted a softer version of the game where the monsters didn’t scream and chase each other but snuggled instead. Kabuki Warrior tackles everyone while laughing like crazy. Taters and Princess put their own spin on the game, turning the monsters into purple fluffy baby monsters that only get mean if they eat watermelon but turn nice when they are hugged. And little Squishy growls and pretends to eat everyone’s noses and cheeks.

Giant Omelet is another game. This one came from my own childhood and I shared it with my children. we all hide under a blanket, which is the “egg” and we have to figure out how to get out without getting cooked. But the floor is the pan, so if you can’t escape without touching the floor than your cooked anyway. (out of the pan, into the fire!)

 I love playing with my kids.

When I was young, the game that I remember playing the most was called “Dent-Dents” it was a game that my siblings and I played often. It started with a dented mirror, which we said caused my sister’s face to become dented. She then threw the “dents” to the floor and of course that caused lava to spill out of the carpet, so we had to escape the dents by running across pillows. If we fell into the lava the Dent-Dents could get us! To keep them at bay we would put up force fields called “Rubber bubbies” and as long as the Dent-Dents didn’t use their laser beams we could escape them and hide within the Rubber bubbies.   Ahhh, childhood.
When I tried to pass this game onto my kids, they made it their own as well. they turned the Dent-Dents into the Dentist and ran from the invisible Dentist. This game was short-lived though because once the Dentist fell into the hot lava he died.

The imagination of a child is such a wonderful place. May they never lose that creativity and desire to play.