Finding Magic in the Ordinary

by Judy Newman

Sophie Rae is now 2 ½, a full-fledged toddler with a clear sense of what she likes (Daniel Tiger and Miss Rachel) and doesn’t like (foxes and red meat). So, I was excited that this holiday season I would have fun shopping for some gifts she could unwrap and enjoy playing with. I have my eye on some block sets and puzzles, a pretend kitchen, and of course (always!) new books. I went to the local toy store and online stores and started looking for more fun ideas. But last weekend when Sophie’s parents had many errands to run and Jeff and I were on babysitting duty, I realized that most of the time we are together, we play with regular stuff around the house … no gifting necessary.

Since she is just now potty trained, Sophie loves heading to the bathroom, and everything in there is exceptionally interesting. She asks to go in and out a lot and is very diligent about washing her hands. We also found ourselves playing with the toilet seat, which goes down slowly at the end—creating a fun anticipation as it descends and then plunks down to complete its closure. Sophie and I played with that toilet seat for a good half hour—I put it up and she pulled it halfway down then watched with glee as it slowly completed its descent.

Eventually we got tired of that (but honestly, we were there for quite a while) and went down to the living room where the old television remote became another great toy. Sophie pressed the play button, and I made a copy of Where the Wild Things Are fall off the shelf. Hilarity ensured since Sophie was convinced it was her button pushing on the remote that made the book move. After 20 minutes of that, we found the landline portable phone and called Jeff—who was working on building Sophie’s doll house—on his cell about 25 times. Sophie loved hearing him pick up the phone.

We did spend some time playing with blocks—building towers and knocking them down—and drawing, but for most of the day, we made imaginative use out of everyday items.

I am still going to go shopping this weekend in some of our local toy stores and I have already purchased Bustletown: All About Winter by Rotraut Susanne Berner since Sophie loves Bustletown: Fall so much. And I do plan to wrap more books for her to open and read with me and explore on her own.

And I am sure I will sit down at the table to eat all kinds of imaginary delicious treats Sophie cooks up in the play kitchen, which is on my gift list.

But I have to say, there is something so fun about playing with regular household items. All the toys in the world can’t beat an afternoon of watching the hydraulics of the toilet seat, magically moving physical objects with the push of a button, and making old-fashioned prank calls (we used to call them chicken calls)—followed by sitting together with some wonderful books.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season, and I hope you find time to truly enjoy some everyday magic that most of us grown-ups take for granted.

XX,
Judy

Judy Newman is President and Reader-in-Chief of Scholastic Book Clubs. For more information, visit judynewmanatscholastic.com.