Friday, October 5, 2007

Petopia




Yesterday, Ella asked the other kids if they would play Littlest Pet Shop with her. After some compromise, all 4 kids were playing together with her pets. Max suggested they build some structures for their pets, so he got out the block bin. And so Petopia was created. For over 10 hours, they played, created, built, rebuilt, and added to their town. There have been some disagreements and arguments, but we were able to navigate through them successfully. This is a major success for us, as these arguments tend to end all fun with everybody leaving angry and upset. They finally went to bed around 10:30, still playing and working up schemes for tomorrow. Today, and they are back at it. Their town is in tact, even after warding off the beasts and monsters (our cat and 2 dogs). So far they have an amazing park with fountain, fire pit, campground, sitting area, movie screen, etc. They have a bank complete with poker chips for money. They have a grocery store, a homeopathic store, a restaurant, and housing for themselves. They have a big wall and a town square. Discussions today have included tourism dollars, and who should decide if they let tourists into the town. They have a mayor, as well as jobs...working in the bank, owning the restaurant, grocery, etc. Their ability to create this world amazes me. What also amazes me is how they have all been a part of it together. We have been struggling lately with relationship issues, boundaries, civility, etc. I mean really struggling. It is so hard to watch the people I love most in the world battle each other and hurt each other. So Petopia has been an amazing breakthrough for all of us. This is the light and shine I try to keep walking toward.




6 comments:

kelli said...

Go for it and link my blog! Great to see you in the bloggin' world :)

miss you guys!

Madeline Rains said...

Wow! How cool is Petopia! I am so impressed by your kids. I love that they have a homeopathic store too.

mindy said...

The homeopathic store is inspired by our recent introduction of the Jump Start kit and a phone consult with your MIL. The store was Alex's idea. He was diagnosed with a milk sensitivity/allergy....ARRGGHHH! Alex loves milk, so this has been really hard for him.

mindy said...

What the hell? I am obviously not paying enough attention. I turn around and you have a web page. You go girl. It looks great. BTW I don't think psychology deserves to be Psychology. I know it pays the bills but it probably does not warrant upper casedom. I love you wife chicken. x j

Madeline Rains said...

"Mindy", it looks like you have a split posting personality! How cool is J for posting here. Nicolas needs to get a clue. : )
Of course you can link my blog.

Unknown said...

Hey Mindy,

Tell your tribe I love Petopia! Are they thinking of allowing immigration? I want to visit the park.

I stumbled across you from Madeline. Feel free to visit my little corner of cyberspace;)

kimbalicious.livejournal.com