The World According to Abby

Like millions of other parents, when my kid gets home from school one of the first questions I ask her is, "How was your day?", and like millions of other kids, Abby usually gives me a standard response - "Good." or "Great day!" are two of her favorites. I've learned that I can't always rely on Abby to get me the information about her school day that I would like. When I ask what she's learned, or what she did at school all she wants to talk about is lunch and recess - typical!

Today was no different, until Abby and I began to play Barbies that is. I think she told me more about school in our forty-five minutes of playing with those dolls than she has all year. Now, I've seen shows where the psychologist will use dolls to get the child to open up, and how they observe them playing and can tell a lot about what is familiar to that child. I thought I would share with you some of the things that I learned tonight about school and Abby's world in general.

The World According to Abby

1. Headless "people" are called "Monsters" and will chase princesses, who will fight back and take them down. Abby has a boy Barbie (I guess you would call him a Ken then, right?) who some time ago lost his head, we used to reattach it whenever we would play, but somehow it has become lost. Tonight Abby grabbed him and Princess Belle Barbie and we played chase for a while with those two. I soon discovered that Miss Belle could certainly hold her own as I watched Abby (dressed in a sweet girly dress) pounding on the poor headless Ken while Belle yelled, "Hi-Ya!" over and over. Eventually Ken gave up and remained down.
2. Moms kiss you a lot, tell you to be good, and go to work. After we chucked Ken, Abby went and got her Tinker Bell doll and a ballerina doll. That's when Belle became, "Mama", with Tinker Bell as the kid (because she was smaller, you know). Mama/Belle proceeded to douse Tinker Bell with kisses, and tell her things like, "Be good, Sweetheart!" and "I'm so proud of you, Honey." After replaying Mama getting Tinker Bell on the pretend bus a few times, Abby laid Mama/Belle aside and said, "Work!" Apparently, the kid had had enough coddling and she sent Mom to work.
3. School would be great if it consisted of lunch and recess. As soon as Tinker Bell got off the bus she went directly to lunch where her favorite meal of pizza with pepperoni and peppers (no idea on that one) was served - with chocolate milk, of course. From lunch it was time to go outside and play. Tinker Bell enjoyed swinging on the swings while Ballerina/Teacher pushed her. She was even generous enough to trade spots for a moment and let the teacher swing - wasn't that nice? After recess the teacher called them in and they lined up (with Tinker Bell as the line leader) and with a "Forward March!" they were off - apparently to another lunch...which was followed by another recess.
4. Teachers hand you crayons, tell you "Good job!", and give you stickers. I was finally able to ask the "teacher" if it was work-time. Surprisingly it was and as Ballerina/Teacher went to get Tinker Bell's toolbox, TB settled down at her desk. Teacher handed TB crayons and told her that the work she'd done was "beautiful", this was followed by the awarding of a sticker. We were also able to fit in half of the ABC song and go through the days of the week, but then it was time for yet another lunch.....followed by another recess. (I guess I'm glad with all the eating they are apparently doing, they are getting plenty of exercise.)
5. Teachers will take you shopping, with a grocery list, and will buy things for Mom and you. Apparently even Abby can tire of lunch and recess because before I knew it Ballerina/Teacher was handing TB a grocery list and they were off to the store! There TB was allowed to sit in the back of the cart while they looked for some yarn for Mama (she knows me so well) and a doll for TB (hmmmm). Then it was bath time - figuratively and literally. When Abby mentioned TB needing a bath I pounced on that and told her that we certainly could take care of that, but Abby needed one too. So everyone got in the tub and a fun time was had by all. 

I found that by the end of it I was pretty fascinated with all that I had learned. I certainly know that Abby does more at school than eat and go to recess. I know because she has come home with some great skills this year - it is so wonderful to see your child learn! What this pretend play with the Barbies reaffirmed for me was that school is a place where Abby has fun, where she does things she enjoys, and where she gets a lot of help and encouragement. It was quite a fun time and a lovely look into her days.

I realized that I have been very lax in taking pictures this
week - I vow to do better. This is a cute one though of
Abby's Barbie picnic. This Ken has a head and is wearing
a skirt - his pants were no where to be found. Modesty
is important around here!