Today was a long, exhausting day for me. I was out of the house at 7am and on my way up to my college campus. From 8am to 3pm, I was part of a "Success Camp" which was basically working with my peers on this semester-long practical exam that we need to complete in order to become certified to teach.
Going through all of this work to become an official teacher gets me excited for the future, but it also reminds me of the past. When I was little, I would play school with all of my stuffed animals, and I would usually get my way and have my siblings play as well. I remember that I had this school set, with a mini chalkboard, and all of these little report cards that I would fill out for everyone. We took the game pretty seriously, but we had fun with it.
I remember that sometimes, after teaching all of my "students," we would have recess. My mom had painted my brothers' room to look like Yankee Stadium (even though all of the girls in our house are Mets fans, the boys are Yankee fans, so we have to deal with it) when they were younger. It was cartoonish looking, because it was for kids, but it was the stadium. It was super impressive, and I wish I had a picture to share. Anyway, the floor looked like the baseball diamond, and there were bases, and there was a catcher painted on the back of the door. Fans lined the stadium walls, there was a player sliding onto first base on the wide dresser, and an outfielder waiting to catch the ball on the wall. It was seriously amazing, and we used the room to our advantage. We would take down a little decorative bat that hung from the ceiling and we would hold the stuffed animals and dolls and make them swing the bat, hitting whatever little ball we happened to find laying around. Then we would run around the bases and take turns, switching teams and having a blast. It was the perfect recess.
If school could only be the way we imagined it when we were little, it would be perfect.
What did you pretend when you were little? What silly things did your children act out? I'd love to hear about your stories in the comments!
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Thanks!
Taylor