Last night after dinner I was sitting on the couch when Madison came and dropped one of her favorite plush dog toys right next to my hand. This was kind of odd because Maddie has never understood the concept of playing fetch. I mean, she’ll run after the object thrown, but normally it’s grudgingly and once she reaches the item, she lays down beside it because, hey, it was a lot of work to get over to it. Dog needs a break, right?
But I suppose that Greenleigh and Hazeline “playing ball” with Erajh nearby [read: Erajh tossing a small, soft ball 2-3 feet towards the girls while he hoped prayed that one of them would show some sort of coordination and/or athletic ability of any kind to actually catch it] inspired her to want in on the fun. For about 5 minutes, Maddie ran back and forth between our living room and family room after the toy, retrieving it and then dropping it by me so as to suggest another throw. Quite frankly, it was the most active I’ve seen Maddie in…well…um, years?
Hazeline squealed in delight when she saw Maddie running through the archway connecting the two room, and she squealed even louder when she only narrowly escaped by being hit by a flying terrier on a mission.
But then there was a minor miscommunication.
And this comes right on the heels of her trying to eat Maddie’s food and play with her toys. I’m pretty sure my toddler thinks she’s a dog. Or, at least, that’s who she identifies with in our household.
I gently reassured her, “No, no Sweetie, you’re not a dog. Only Maddie does that.”
But she wasn’t buying it. Instead, she would wait until Erajh tossed her the ball, then catch it with her hands (or try to at least), put it in her mouth, and prance around the house until finally finding me to drop it off. No amount of convincing helped and I’m a little concerned that this is now how she thinks you play ball.
Let’s hope she figures it out or gym class in middle school is going to be a very traumatic experience.
Ha Ha Ha Thank goodness I’m not the only one with a toddler identifying with the dog. Lovebug Did the same thing a few weeks ago…though she was sneaky about the dog food consuming. She started to “feed the dog”, then fed herself!
I know what you mean both my kids play being dogs. And we don’t even have a DOG.