Playdates

I'm sitting in my family room folding laundry while my two girls are having a play date.  They are upstairs in G's room playing doctor.  She is with my friend's two children- one former student and one current student.  The baby monitor was still on, so I was able to catch a glimpse of their little world without spoiling it with my adult presence.  An outsider may not be able to tell that it's a room full of tiny Montessorians, but I can.  Here are some things I've heard:

• "Sure, you can have some of my snack.  There's enough for all of us."
• "Let's see, we've only got ten pieces of snack.  That means we can all have three and we'll give 'g' one because she's just so tiny."
• "You better get the doctor kit from the playroom, I'm going to have this baby any minute.  We should get packed for the hospital."
• "You'll be a great mother, I can just tell.  You're very patient."
• "It's 3:00, that means we have exactly one more hour to play. That's a lot of minutes!"

To most people, this just sounds like normal child's play.  To me, each comment reminds me of a lesson I gave one of them over the past four years.  The Montessori lessons truly do stay with the child for life.  They mold and shape their character traits to form caring, loving members of the community.