Photo A Day: Chair

A number of weeks ago (possibly even before Christmas), my kids were playing in the nursery at church, and I discovered a trail of stuffing leading to a giant stuffed bear. His tail had come unstitched, and bits of stuffing were leaking out all over the place. I made a mental note to bring a needle and thread to church the following week so I could mend him, but week followed week and I kept forgetting. Finally, this morning, I grabbed him and brought him home, figuring he’d be harder to forget than a needle and thread had been. So even before I had lunch, I grabbed the bear and stitched him back together again. When I came back into the room a bit later, this is what I found.

Bear in a chair! It reminded me of how much my son loves to play the “Wocket in my Pocket” game. He invented this game immediately after we read Dr. Seuss’ book, “There’s a Wocket in my Pocket” for the first time. You play the game by finding something in the room and making up an imaginary creature that is hiding in, under, or around said object. For example, “There’s a Gamp by the lamp;” “There’s a Shrable under the table;” “There’s a Bliano on the piano.” Extra points are earned when you can come up with a non-imaginary rhyme, such as, “There’s a fox wearing my socks,” or “There’s a bear in that chair.”

I love how much my son delights in this game. His whole face lights up every time he thinks of a rhyme. I revel in how he loves to play with language, to make up words, to find words that sound like what they are (or what he imagines they would be). I love his playfulness and his creativity. I love that he even plays the game without speaking a word, simply by placing a bear in a chair.

Chair.