Play acting kids

[MIZ]

My children like to role-play a lot and pretend they are other people - like princesses, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, teachers, moms to each other or their dolls, etc.

But my kids (5.5 and 3) now play "doggie" where my younger daughter is the dog and my older daughter is the doggie's mommy. She will make a fake cage (where she knows how to do this I don't know, we don't have a dog:lol:) behind our ottoman and feed younger DD food out of her hand. Younger DD will bark and pant and crawl around.

Anyway, my mom keeps telling me that it isn't good for my DD's self-esteem to play a dog. But honestly, DD2 has SUCH a strong personality and when they play doggie it is one of the rate times they play nice together (no issues of not sharing, not taking turns, or just pushing/hitting/pulling hair, etc). I've suggested they take turns being the dog but DD2 just isn't interest in being the "mommy" dog/master, she likes acting like a dog.:dunno: Yanno, she's 3.;)

So, what is your take on it? Is it damaging to my child's self-esteem to let her pretend to be a dog?

[Busty Vixen]

"Dog" is one of DD's favorite games to play with her friends. Has been since about age 5. (She's 9 now.) I think this is one of those fun things to play for kids. :shrug:

[MIZ]

BUSTY!!! CAN I GIVE YOU MY MOM'S PHONE NUMBER???? IT'S GOING TO HARM MY KIDS, I TELL YOU!!:rofl:

[Busty Vixen]

Well, I have to draw the line if she starts dragging her butt across the carpet. :ita:

[KIDPOWER]

I have seen confident bright children play extended fantasy games being all kinds of animals - dogs, cats, snakes, bugs, horses, etc. etc. This is normal healthy play. If your daughters start to hurt each other or break the furniture or actually eat animal food instead of people food, you will need to put boundaries around it. Otherwise, if they are playing nicely, this is a wonderful creative way for your daughters to interact.

From the time she was three until she was about seven, the daughter of a friend of mine went through long phases she truly acted like she WAS a dog most of the time - she went through her day panting, barking, eating like a dog, jumping up onto the couch instead of just sitting down on it, sitting on the floor and putting her paw out to shake, rolling over, etc. My friend was very patient, even when her daughter decided to experiment with being a bird of prey instead. (The social behavior of pretend birds of prey is more disconcerting than of pretend dogs.) Now, at age 11, my friend's daughter is showing a rare talent for helping people who train dogs for people with disabilities - and with caring for horses.

It is also very normal for children to have one always in the nurturing/dominant role and the other in the subservient/being cared for role. As long as they are both okay with this, and the dominant one doesn't tell the subservient one to do things that are destructive or make negative comments about the subservient one, this is fine. In your case, this is a nice opportunity for a big sister to get to nurture a highly independent little sister.

So these are some things you might explain to your mother - but there are some important other dynamics here that I think deserve to be another thread about Grandma Management.