Comments on: The Imagination Play Phrase You Should Never Ignore

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:21:53 +0000

Another nasty fire story in my family too. My uncle, when a child, was likewise told never to play with matches though the reasoning wasn't explained. He ended up starting a fire with matches he wasn't meant to have and, like a previous poster, he didn't tell his parents. Instead, he 'ran away.' The house was severely damaged and for a time (while the fire was raging) it was feared that my uncle was trapped in it. Thankfully, no one was hurt. But the loss of possessions and damage to the home could have been avoided. So yup, I'm with ya. If my kiddos say anything about fire, I'll be checking it out each and every time. Kims last blog post..Happy New Year!

By: call_me_ps

call_me_ps — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:23:36 +0000

My sister ran into this quandary when her son said, “Mom, help me!” How urgent should the response be? How fast should she run? Is Daddy just teasing him again, or did he seriously hurt himself?

She decided in the end to go with telling her son to use the Spanish phrase for help me (“Ayuda me!”) when he is just playing (e.g. Daddy is tickling him and he wants her to “rescue him”) and reserve “Help me!” for situations when he is in real danger. I am not sure that’s not going a little too far, but you might institute something in your house like that, to allow him to continue playing firefighter and your heart to continue beating a normal pace.

By: Upstatemomof3

Upstatemomof3 — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:14:39 +0000

Absolutely!! Truth is you should always have one ear open when your children are playing. The things that run through their minds can be very informative. Glad t was just a play fire though.

Upstatemomof3s last blog post..Hockey Week In Review

By: Judy

Judy — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:29:01 +0000

So true not to ignore that one.

But how cute that he’s playing at Daddy’s work. Nate used to “grade papers.”

Judys last blog post..forgiveness and self-forgiveness

By: ivymae

ivymae — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:55:42 +0000

Another topic for you to talk about someday may be the difference between teaching about fire, and just saying "You will be in so much trouble for touching the matches!" (Very sad story that you can wait to read if you are in a vulnerable space: Years before I was born, my Aunt V had two boys, 5 and 1. V had told 5 to never, never, never touch the matches or he would get a spanking. So, when he started a fire in the nursery with the matches, he didn't run to tell his mom, he hid in a closet. And when they started yelling for him, he didn't come out. His little brother is 35 now, and had been through countless skin grafts, and I never met 5. My Aunt V never hid this story from us as kids, because we did need to know why fire was dangerous, not just because our parents would be mad. And man, as a mom, it hits me on a completely different level then it did as a kid.) ivymaes last blog post..Transcending

By: 9to5to9

9to5to9 — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:24:23 +0000

Good reminder! We haven't had any imaginary fires around here, but we do often have floods and bad guys. And, you're right, you have to take them seriously, because the one time you don't ... I don't even want to think about that. 9to5to9s last blog post..Along came a spider and sat down beside her …