Having little girls around the house on a daily basis can be quite interesting. Caring for my grand daughters this summer is reminding me just how messy, loud and busy small children are! I am also realizing that children still love to play dress up. We have a large box that is filled with my daughter's old dance recital costumes, scarves, purses and more. The little girls love to wear those flowing dresses and sparkly items while pretending they are princesses or fairies. I keep the electronics turned off and it is amazing the imaginative scenarios that are played out in my living room. I do realized that some of the things they see and hear creep into their play, so that just makes me want to shield them from things even more. But aren't we all influenced by that? The things we read, watch and listen to influence us and sway our behaviors.
Another thing that the little girls constantly get into and play with are my shoes! They take on totally different characters just by wearing different shoes. But don't we all do the same thing? I know I walk differently, stand differently and look different depending on what shoes I wear. I wish you could have seen the sassiness on their faces when I snapped this photo!
Though I often worry they will fall down, twist their ankles or worse, I realize that I need to let them take risks sometimes. They need to explore, learn what is dangerous and how to protect themselves while still stepping out and trying new things. Wearing my shoes brings out new imaginative play and it can be fun to watch.
What is it about dressing up in costumes that attracts us? I still love to do that too - and for several years my sister and I belonged to a fun camping group of women where a large part of those camping trips was dressing up. To shed the burdens of day to day life and put on a petticoat or a silly outfit was freeing. Large groups of women just being little girls again, leaving the cares of life and the worries of home behind. Just like my grand daughters, the desire was to pretend and imagine I was someone else. Can you imagine dressing up like a 'floozy' and actually going out in public?! It was fun! Some of the women just couldn't imagine walking into a store dressed in costumes, but when my sister and I did we knew that no one knew us, and to see the smiles we put on faces was priceless. We even had an entire swim team of teens ask to take their picture with us! (I imagine they went home and told their parents "you should have seen these two crazy women, they were dressed up in Bucees - it was nuts!") No, I don't desire to be a floozy, but it was fun to pretend. For just a few hours to be carefree, talk in an accent and laugh. I think what I enjoyed most about that night was hearing other people laugh and seeing them smile because Judy and I were so out of character, and it was truly about bringing out some joy in others through our silliness.
My favorite dress up trip of all was the Hippy Happening - because it was an awakening for me. Yes, we were silly in our costumes and all 100 or so women enjoyed pretending we were hippies for a weekend, but what it sparked in me was to be real. I was in a deep depression that spring - and as we played at the stereotype dress and behavior of hippies I knew I needed to be me. I had to quit playing 'dress up' in my day to day life and just be who God created me to be, not who I thought other people wanted me to be. When I watch my grand daughters dress up as princesses or wearing my shoes, what I see come out in them is personality. They exhibit leadership in their play as they fall into natural roles of teacher and student, or mom and baby. I find that their desires come out in their play. Putting on tie dye clothes, funky jewelry and headbands was far out of style for my sister, but for me it was pure pleasure and comfort. I have since embraced being me and it feels good. That weekend a couple of years ago started the process.
As I get ready to spend another day with my grand daughters I will encourage them to play dress up. To try on different shoes and learn who they are and dream about what they could become. Perhaps if I had played a little more dress up in my youth, and explored the possibilities for my life it wouldn't have taken well into my 50's to discover and accept who I am. Play a little dress up - it is never too late and you never know what you might learn about yourself.
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