Five Benefits of a Good Imagination

1. You save money

Samara has never had a baby doll and doesn't want one.  Her pink blanket doubles as her pretend baby.  She feeds, plays with, and is extremely protective of her.

 2.  You get to have pets without the responsibility

Sometimes she's a cat and sometimes she's a dog.  We are always a family of snails.  Her first imaginary pet was "Tiny" the dinosaur, but now it's the "nice mosquitos".  The nice mosquitos are a wonderful resource because they not only protect us from the bad kind (that bite you) but they also have a pretend map whenever we get lost.  When we don't know which way to go, we simply ask the nice mosquitos.  I wonder if I should feel bad that my poor sense of direction caused her to invent help for us.

3.  Naptime is always interesting

I always got the biggest kick out of the excuses our nieces and nephews came up with at bedtime.  Mara is no different.  I love when she insists she is not tired and then zonks out.  It's so fun to listen in at the door before she falls asleep and then to go in once she's fallen asleep to see what she's done to entertain herself until she dozes off.  She went through a phase (lower left photo) where she'd only nap on the floor.  I'm thrilled when she naps so anywhere she wants to nap is fine with me.

FYI, that is definitely NOT a bra in the top photo.  That is her BACKPACK!  Even though she has two cute backpacks, she insists this is the only one she has and begs to wear it when we go outside.  

4.  Our travels last longer 

Samara loves visiting new countries and "visits" them for months after we return from a trip.  I am amazed how much she remembers.  Currently, we live at the beach in Indonesia (I wish!!).  One day while she was playing with the little wooden dolls from her dollhouse, I heard her tell them they were going to America and had to take three airplanes to get there.  Then she said, "Ok, time to get off and go through customers (read customs) so you can get a new stamp in your passport."

5.  She keeps on us our toes

Even though we may not always love the creative uses she finds for things around the house, I'm so glad she has such a vivid imagination.  We never know what this little one is going to come up with next, but she keeps us highly entertained.  I wish her pretend money and grocery store (she always goes to when we are missing ingredients for dinner) were real.  But I'm glad her nice mosquitos aren't...