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.