One Mom’s Reflection on Play: Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets

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I almost burned myself as I grabbed the pan of chicken nuggets out of the oven.  My two girls were asleep and my little guy was “doing quiet time” (read: standing next to me asking when his snack would be done).  I had a list a mile long of things I wanted to get done around the house and I was hungry.  So I, too, needed some nuggets.  I grabbed plates from the cabinet and threw a few pieces of chicken onto each one.

“Why did you only give me t-rexes?” my son asked as he looked at me with genuine, serious confusion.

“What?” I managed to get out as I grabbed ketchup from the refrigerator.  I was thinking a mile a minute about my business tasks and the precious minutes of my girls napping were slipping away.

“There are only t-rex chicken nuggets on my plate.  Can I have one of your long necks and a stegosaurus?” he petitioned matter of factly.

blue background with multi-colored toy dinosaurs

This sweet, innocent, so stinkin’ adorable question gave me such pause.   We traded chicken nuggets and my little guy went happily on his way to the table.  He then proceeded to have his dino nuggets fight to the death before he brought each of them to their end by biting off their heads.

I abandoned all of my plans and sat on the couch about 5 feet away just watching him.  I just stared at his sweet little self, bashing baked, breaded chicken, roaring louder than I would normally allow (since his sisters were asleep) and BEAMING from ear to ear.  He was so so very happy.  It filled my heart and quieted my soul.  This silly, sweet scene reminded me of one of my favorite quotes of all time by the dear, beloved Mr. Rogers:

“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from learning.  But, for children, play is serious learning.  Play is really the work of childhood.”

I, as a mom of three small children, with much else going on in life, find myself far too hurried.  When I am not careful, I can too often force this hurried nature on my kids.  Let me clarify something here, lest you think I am a mother who centers her entire universe around her children: I think it would be crazy to think it possible or sensible to NEVER interrupt your child during play to get ready to go or to clean up or move on to something different.  Of course, there are times when their imaginations have to turn off for a bit or their ceiling high tower has to wait until later. But I do sometimes find myself unnecessarily restricting their play.  I fill our schedule with too many things, I don’t want to listen to the noise that comes along with playing Te-Ka (from Moana) at 7:15am, I stop the running during play dates when nobody is really doing anything wrong.

But those dinosaur chicken nuggets.  That little voice hoping I would give him one of each dinosaur so they could battle.  Watching him delight in something so simple.  It reminded me to let go.  To remember that my children’s imaginations are a GIFT to be enjoyed and a SKILL to encourage.  They’re not a nuisance to squash and while they may be annoying at times, that is on me, not my children.

I’ve got miles to go in the realm of appreciating my kids for all that they are.  It’s not because of my lack of love for them, but because of their incredible depth!  They are so full of wonder.  And this momma is so grateful for that plateful of chicken that caused such reflection and discovery.