Before we put Dutch into daycare, we thought Dutch was really wishing for interaction with other little girls who like to play ornate pretend games with dolls. In the last few weeks, it's become increasingly clear that she actually much prefers the company of the roughhousing boys. The teachers (and Dutch herself) tell us that she spends most of her time running around with J and Q (the adorable biter). Dutch says that when J and Q hit her too much, she plays instead with R, a little girl who likes to play ornate pretend games with dolls.
In spite of all my lip service to the notion of not wanting to trap Dutch in any fixed idea of her, I repeatedly get ideas about Dutch, and they get fixed very quickly. She is not, however, always the same. She does like to play ornate pretend games with dolls, but she likes to play them by herself, at home, where she has complete control over the scenarios. At daycare, she apparently prefers to play in the rockpit with the boys, where the subtle arts of social negotiation are somewhat less subtle, and easier to master. (Also, she's learning to say "shut up" and say that things and people are "stupid" and "stinky." Not that pottymouthing is the exclusive province of boys.) Must...unfix...convictions...
In spite of all my lip service to the notion of not wanting to trap Dutch in any fixed idea of her, I repeatedly get ideas about Dutch, and they get fixed very quickly. She is not, however, always the same. She does like to play ornate pretend games with dolls, but she likes to play them by herself, at home, where she has complete control over the scenarios. At daycare, she apparently prefers to play in the rockpit with the boys, where the subtle arts of social negotiation are somewhat less subtle, and easier to master. (Also, she's learning to say "shut up" and say that things and people are "stupid" and "stinky." Not that pottymouthing is the exclusive province of boys.) Must...unfix...convictions...
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