Jesus Loves Those Cowboys, Knights, and Princesses.

It was a crowded arcade in a restaurant by the beach; the neon lights flashed and tinned music loudly competed for the attention of the kids playing the games. My attention was not on the games, however, but on the little girl. Enthralled, I just stood and watched her for awhile. Was she a Princess? A Fairy? A Bride? This fascinating girl of about 6 or 7 was dressed in what had obviously been a Flower Girl gown; you could see that it was not a ‘cheap’ costume or thrift store outfit. But the dress had probably served its purpose, and why let it go to waste or just give it away…? Ha….I could see that her mother, who was bemusedly watching her daughter play, just loved seeing her little girl have fun. Besides the beautiful dress, the little girl wore a plastic crown over her shoulder-length brown curls, and she proudly sported fancy plastic dress-up heels. With an abandon that only comes with childhood, this child was lost in her imagination as she scampered and played all over the carousel of horses and the benches lining the room. Of course her dress was getting dirty and her hair was messy. Some people may have clucked their tongues and commented over ‘wasting’ such a pretty dress, or how the girl wasn’t ‘behaving’ properly at the restaurant. I was years away from having my own kids, but my heart danced along with this sprite and I silently applauded her mother for allowing her to enjoy her freedom and creativity. That, I decided, would one day be me and my daughter, regardless of tongue clucking or disparaging comments from the less-imaginative folks.

I love the idea of imagination and creativity! Perhaps it comes from being the Youngest Child or from endless hours spent reading Anne of Green Gables (reknown for her over-active imagination!). But I realize I’ve always had my own active imagination and luckily….so very luckily…I had a mother who allowed it to grow. She understood that sometimes your room gets incredibly messy when the circus has come to town and all of your dolls/stuffed animals are busy performing. She knew that a Barbie scenario sometimes stretched over several days, meaning that once Ken and the girls were decked out in their finest and positioned all over the couch and coffee table, they shouldn’t be rushed away until the Ball was over in a few days. My parents fully embraced the idea that sometimes the living room should be arranged to accommodate a huge tent of quilts and blankets spread out over the various chairs and furniture. In fact, my dad would walk around the tent and chuckle when he got off work, and my mom would bring us dinner to eat in our tent.

Crazy? Maybe. Wonderful? Absolutely!

Of course I have friends with similar ideas. If you don’t read my friend Amy’s blog (The Adventures of the Miraflor Family), you should: her son Jake has a crazy imagination and always brings a smile to my face by his constant antics and creativity.

Sir Knight Jake and his trusty steed.

And then there is my friends Cheyenne and Robert (another great blog: Our Lovely Mess); they take their daughter to Fairy parks in Chicago and participate in searching for the elusive fairies. Robert even recently made these great toadstool stools for their yard…can you imagine the wonderful hours of imaginative play their kids will have with such great imaginative props?

Since becoming a parent, I’ve gotten into the habit of taking my kids to the local playgrounds. Unfortunately, this means I’ve discovered the Playground Nazis. These parents are NO JOKE and you will run into them eventually. They have strict ideas about how their kids should play on the play structures. You don’t run UP the slides, ever. You don’t touch the play structure with anything other than your feet. And God forbid their kids ever try to play on the OUTSIDE of the structure, like little monkeys! These Nazi Parents circle the structure like buzzards with their eyes never leaving their kids. They yell and gesture broadly when their kid dares disobey the Rules. I can’t ever decide if I should glare at them, laugh at them, or pity them. Don’t they understand that sometimes the play structure is a fort….sometimes a pirate ship…who knows? I can’t believe they are trying to restrict their kids’ play so much. As long as basic rules are followed, let the kids play! My kids know MY rules: let others take their turns. No pushing, shoving, or other inappropriate physical contact. Invite the quieter and shyer kids to play because you never know who might be a good friend. Have fun and don’t put up a fuss when we have to leave.

Please ignore the mess! Samuel and Olivia being crazy Saturday night.

Speaking of appropriate behavior, I hope people don’t think my husband and I are allowing our kids to grow up without any guidelines just because we want to foster their imagination! Oh no…trust me….these kids get their share of discipline. We try hard to teach them correct behavior…manners…etc. How to behave in church, how to be nice and polite, and what is expected of them. They have chores from the time they can walk; they know to put trash away, dishes in the sink, dirty clothes in the hamper, and toys in the toybox.

Samuel and Olivia safely in their boat with their toys that they just barely managed to 'rescue from the water'.

But we also don’t stress out when Samuel wants to wear his cowboy boots with his church clothes, like he did yesterday (he was very serious!):

I loved it when my friend allowed her young daughter to wear her Minnie Mouse dress to church.

Why not? I don’t think God would mind at all if we let our kids come sometimes in mismatched costumes and outfits. In fact, Jesus loved and spoke about the minds of innocent children. He told US to be more like THEM, with their pure hearts! Perhaps if we stressed LESS about what our children chose to wear (within modest reason!) and MORE about their little hearts learning to love Jesus, they might grow up loving Him with more abandon and sincerity.

Just a thought.

And you know what? People get paid BIG MONEY to be creative in the grown-up world, in certain jobs! Having brilliant and creative ideas for ads, photography, etc. pays off in some careers. If those people hadn't been allowed to grow an imagination, how dull our world would be.

For now, let me just warn you. You never know how my kids will look when they leave our house. But I will not notice or pay attention to any tongue-clucking or head-shaking so don't bother with either. Life happens soon enough, with all of the heartache and seriousness and responsibility. My kids will face betrayal and sadness before I am ready for them too...so for now, let them be Princesses or dragons or whatever they choose to pretend to be. Let their imaginations soar. Let them be innocent, carefree kids.

Like all of us wish we could be...once again.