A friend pointed out the other day that in my first post on this blog, here, I said I had stopped playing pretend and grown up. She reminded me that wasn’t entirely accurate. I was surprised. Of course it was. I am an adult. I don’t play pretend anymore. What was she talking about?
“What about Pedro and Antonio?” She asked with a sly grin. Uhhh. That was a longtime ago. Sort of. “And Annabelle?” Ooops. “We take pretend vacations every summer and you forgot Wal-Mart and Target.” She added. She had me. How do you play pretend as an adult? I’ll explain.
When our kids were little, my friend and I would pack them all up for day trips, especially in the summer. We were stay at home moms and summers could get very long. On one of these stressful but fun outings, we went to a local water park. It always sounds like a good idea when you are planning it but when you are there with a seven, five, and three year old, it’s a little more of the stressful and less of the fun. So there we were floating in the lazy river, holding onto the children to make sure no one drowns or is abducted while the kids are screaming, crying and asking for candy. Watching other people's children to make sure they didn't drown either while their clueless parents floated away down the river without a care in the world, and dodging stuff in the bottom of the river that no one wants to think about. Why had we thought this was a good idea? This is how Pedro and Antonio came to be.
My friend and I decided they should shut down the park at night and only adults should be allowed in to float in the river undisturbed. Then good looking eunuchs, without the power of speech, should stand on the sides of the lazy river with feather fans and umbrella drinks. Lovely. We then decided these eunuchs would come in handy at home too. To do laundry, wash dishes and handle the children while we lounged on the couch and read. They were exactly what we needed in our lives. We spoke about them to each other as if they really existed. To the point where other adults started to ask who they were.
They were a part of our lives for many years. When asked by other adults who Pedro and Antonio were our children would say “Mom’s imaginary friends.” So I guess I do still play pretend. Oh and Annabelle? That is a whole ‘nother story. Next time.
Do you still play pretend? I would love to hear your story in the comments below!
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