a rugs life

Playing with my daughter involves spending huge amounts of time on the floor, taking on the personality of one of her trains. I am usually either Percy, Henry or Toby.

Typically, the ensuing drama is often related to conflict, such as several trains wanting to travel on the same track at the same time, or one train does not want give way to another (these both being a variant of the classic ‘get out of my way’ dilemma.) 

My job, as Percy, Henry, or Toby, is to express my desires in an articulate way and yet try to find opportunities to slip in parental hints for civilized resolution such as, for example, suggest that one train wait while the other train goes ahead, etc.

My daughter revels in enacting scenes like this for hours on end. I try to participate with as much muster and enthusiasm as I can, but often I find myself profoundly bored and struggling to keep up with the dramatic narrative.

What helps me persevere is the occasional burst of insight that she will express, seemingly out of the blue. Yesterday she told me that although Gordon is the fastest, most powerful engine on the Island of Sodor, he is also very shy, and sometimes this makes it hard for him to share with the other engines. Essentially this is the ‘lonely at the top’ paradigm and her description of Gordon outlined it perfectly.