Last weekend we had a friend of ours visiting from out of town. He has been a good friend of my husband for over 10 years and gets along great with the kids. Baby girl thinks he’s pretty funny and as is true with most people, she loves talking to him, which is fine by us.

Except, there are those times when the adults get to talking and are so heavily involved in their conversation that it’s hard to let the kids participate. When you’re friends with someone for over 10 years, this can be especially true, since you have plenty of memories and inside jokes. You can imagine there were a couple of instances where this happened while our friend was visiting.

The first night our friend visited, as I tucked baby girl into bed, she said, “Mommy, when people visit us or we visit them, I don’t really get to talk a lot.” I responded by reminding her that she did talk quite a bit and that she even played a game with our friend and read a book. I proceeded to tell her that when her dad and I were her age, things were worse. “We weren’t allowed to just come up and talk to the adults like you do. If they talked to us, then we’d respond, but it wasn’t like we just started conversations with them on our own. At least you get to do that!”

This was probably the worst thing I could have said at that moment because she started to cry saying, “That’s just not fair mommy!” I quickly told her that’s just the way it was and those were the rules, but that it’s not her rule. This didn’t help as she continued to cry repeating it wasn’t fair. I finally calmed her down by telling her it was a long time ago and that her daddy and I were over it, so she didn’t have to worry about it.

I left her room laughing, which was the same reaction my husband and our visitor had. It’s funny that even though she’s able to interact with adults in a manner significantly different to how my husband and I did as kids, she found it unnerving we couldn’t.

What is something from your childhood your children found surprising?

Photo by Catherine

My mother has a photo of me from when I was about three or four years old. You can see the plastic-covered couches that were popular back in those days, especially in Latino households and throughout the Caribbean. In this photo, I am serving my abuelo his “cafe” in one of my plastic toy cups – we didn’t play “tea party” in Puerto Rico; coffee was what was served. Next to me is a Strawberry Shortcake stroller holding one of my dolls. I loved that stroller and only wish I still had it for my daughter to use now. What I remember most, though, is playing with my abuelo.

It’s interesting to see my daughter play the same types of games and even with some of the same toys I had. Like Strawberry Shortcake, so many of the toys from my childhood are back again! But, beyond the same toys making a comeback, there are games that never go out of style. You will always find little girls having tea parties. You can be sure they’ll always play pretend with their dolls and stuffed animals. The latest game my daughter plays in the mornings is to play teacher with her “classroom” full of stuffed animal students – a game I too used to play when I was little.

Through these games, we as parents are able to share more than just quality time with our children. We are sharing stories and memories of our own childhood. I think most kids enjoy hearing stories of mommy and daddy as little kids, my daughter included. In playing together and making play time family time, we’re all getting a dose of nostalgia. Most importantly, we are spending time together.

These are the moments that I am sure my daughter enjoys the most. Playing with mom and dad, hearing stories of how different, or not so different, play time was for mom and dad, and of course, creating her own memories she’ll one day share with others.