Joelle and I were playing with her “Christmas” Playmobil set. The way Joelle plays with figures right now she usually has them all do something as a group. For example, “they are all going to go ice skating” and she takes them via a sleigh ride in groups to the lake. If she asks me what I think various characters should do I usually engage them in dialogue and make up situations.

So, I was surprised when Joelle abruptly started a dialogue between two characters: Santa and a boy. I was further surprised with the direction the discussion went:

Santa (Joelle): Ho, ho, ho. I am brining GOOD NEWS to Playmobil Land.

Boy (Joelle): What, Santa?

Santa (Joelle) : There will be NO CHRISTMAS this year.

She stopped here as if that was the full script she had worked up by herself, so I interjected as “the boy”.

Boy (me): No Christmas? That’s not good news!

Santa (Joelle): It is for me, I get to take a break.

Santa (Joelle): Actually the elves and the reindeer aren’t available and they usually help me so Christmas has been moved to May 25th.

Boy (me): <silence>

I guess one of the hardest thing for kids (and adults) to learn is to look at a situation from someone else’s point of view. Joelle impressed me with her insight there!