How play helps get kids ready for the real world
By: Mary Beth Lagerborg
As we approached the start of preschool for our son Tim, age 4, the teacher alerted me to the fact his class would have seven little girls and Tim. In the car on the way home after the first day, I asked him, "How did you feel about being the only boy?" Timmy looked up at me thoughtfully, as if he'd not considered this. "Well, when we play house, I'm the dad," he said, grinning.
In my grown-up-ness I'd thought he'd miss boy rough-and-tumble. But he had plenty of that with his brother at home. My thoughts had been small and logical and worried; his, like his imagination, were uncomplicated and free.
Children's work is play. Day in and day out that's what children do at home: They play. As moms we see play small-sightedly: Will they make a mess? Will I have to play with them? Will they argue or play nicely?
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