Generations of pretending

When I was a kid, summer was full of Play Like. Teachers and other ancients referred to the game as Let's Pretend, and maybe they really called it that. The phrase always sounded fake to me, like children imitating Winnie the Pooh dialog.

"Let's play like we're explorers and this is a jungle full of monsters." It's the same game, I'm sure, though subjects vary with generations just as terminology does.

The gas tank in the back yard served as a number of different vehicles, in spite of the fact that there was no way to get inside. "Let's play like this is our time machine." Sitting on top was fine. There was an important-looking valve that was steering wheel and everything else.

Once I became mobile, the swamp took over stage duties. It was a short bike-ride away down a big street, that had a golf course on one side and the swamp on the other, filled with tall slim trees and squishy mud and green-coated water. I'm not sure how big it was really, but we couldn't see across it, and didn't have to go in very far to lose sight of the road, so that was big enough. "Let's play like there are dinosaurs."

Now my kids are playing their version of Let's Pretend. Their terminology is borrowed from video games and cartoons. "Kai, do you want to play my game?" Rowan asks. That means he wants to set the stage for Kai and tell the first part of the story, but he'll join in as a character soon enough. They get out the swords and ray guns (never hurts to be versatile) and hunker down behind the couch.

"Rowan, after this let's play one of my games." Kai is already working out the next act. His game is usually Golden Saga, which has an ever-evolving plot that centers around a magic sword that he's found. He doesn't want to direct as much as Rowan does, and usually the fighting has much more to do with all his powers, or those of the sword.

Jasmine's game is simpler. It's called "Arrr!" She picks up a cutlass and starts chasing people, and they generally get the idea. Not much dialog but she's emphatic about it.

She's not old enough to join in the more complex forms of Let's Pretend, but she makes a great monster thrown in as a surprise. "Jasmine, go play with your brothers." I hand her the flashing blade and she holds it up high. "Arrr!"