I’m sitting here trying to simply explain the He-man universe to the boy. When I was growing up we had the cartoons and my parents humored us by getting us most of the action figures and accessories. My brother and I played with them constantly- creating and destroying worlds. Even today, it’s still second nature to me. I imagine it’s the same for the brother.
The boy doesn’t have that reference to work with- so he’s sitting here fascinated by Castle Greyskull wondering how it came into being. He’s wondering what’s so special about He-man. I explain that He-man is super strong and can punch through walls. The boy wants to know if he can fly- I tell him no. Then he sits back and ponders the windows and doors in Castle Greyskull and concludes that He-man must have punched through those and how can a toy actually break rock?
So then I explain that it’s all in the imagination. That when he’s playing his toys are only limited to what he thinks they can do. That’s it’s pretend and that he can build his own universe and rules. That it’s important for him to have an imagination so that he’ll be able to look at problems and dream up solutions to them.
He turns and stares at the castle and ponders my words now.
All of this is over his head right now, but someday it won’t be.
One reply on “What’s Old is New Again”
IMAGINATION is the BEST TOY … you all were very gifted at creating worlds where-in you could exist for hours. It was amazing to watch and listen to the scenarios that three little minds could create … hoping the lad and lass will give you a ‘window to the worlds they will create’…