Cole has quite an impressive imagination. I remember when he was three or so listening from my desk as he chatted away in his playroom. I could tell he was playing multiple characters because he would change his inflection, voice or tone. I was fascinated then but am more awed now as his pretend play has become quite complex and intellectual (by that I mean he is incorporating things he learned at school, via books or by watching shows/TV such as Wild Kratts, Sid the Science Kid, Calliou into his dialogue). I love to eavesdrop as he fights battles, flies through outer space or is off saving animals, it is just more difficult to do so now because he senses my silent intrusion. He will find me, furrow his brow and ask me point blank in an irritated manner "mom, are you hearing me play!?"
I'll assume that part of the reason that Cole plays solo so well is because he is an only child. When there are no other kiddos around to play the opposing role in any number of his scenarios and when Dave and I are not able to join him, he has had to assume both parts, more often than many of his peers who have siblings or neighborhood kids on their street who fill that need.
Cole loves to get caught up in his imaginary world of super heroes, astronauts and hospitality workers (he loves to play hotel and restaurant) but he surprised me the other day when he was playing an animal adventure game on Dave's IPad and he won and a message from the character popped up saying that he could get his "creature power suit", which was a cyber-version of a costume. Cole however thought it was something "real" that he would get in the mail and he got visibly upset when I told him that he wouldn't. "But mom, I don't want it to be pretend, I want it to be real life, I want to touch it". Sadly, I wish it could have been "real life" as he craved. My fear for his generation is that not nearly enough of his experiences will be the "real life" things that defined my childhood. I will do my darnedest to expose him to those but technology is encroaching from all sides shrinking their "real life" sphere to one that is of an alarmingly smaller proportion.
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