This past week the mayor of Seattle visited my son’s preschool. This meant that he got all of 5 seconds of screen time sitting and listening to the mayor read a story.I was excited to see him on TV. I also noticed that in half of the clips, he had his special lovey toy with him, and was quite actively bouncing it off of his best friend sitting next to him.
While I know my son and his friend would both think it is funny, there was a part of me that panicked, thinking, "oh no, the world is going to see my son bashing some other kid in the shoulder with this toy on regional television!"
But then I thought about it more; they editor of that news story had deliberately picked that shot. They had been in the classroom for at least half an hour, filming the kids the whole time. Of all the cute or silly footage they could have chosen to help compliment their news story, they picked that one. The moment of little kids being kids together, playing and having fun together while also having a story read to them and learning. THAT right there is an endorsement – to me anyway – that the news crew saw that interaction and felt the same way I did – that these were obviously two friends just being friends together, bouncy stuffed animals and all.
It’s important for all of us to remember to give space for play. Even me.
Exploring Enriching Environments
Mental Flowers 