My son, Takeh, can now play pretend games.
When I get him from preschool in the evening, the boys play with plastic cars and rails, and the girls play make-believe.
The girls play make-believe together and talk often.
The boys, however, play alone at their own pace. They appear to be working with their friends to construct a plastic train track, but eventually they start moving in different directions. When they change their minds, they aimlessly roam around and grab a different toy.
In contrast, my son Takeh is likely peeking at the girls who are pretending to play. He began to copy their actions himself.
“I understand what you’re saying,” he comments, “about paying the bill.” When I asked for the bill, he gave it to me with a closed fist and said, “Here you go,” then said, “Pip.” They were mimicking electronic payments such as QR codes.
When I suggested using PayPay, he asked, “What’s that?” and said, “Pip” again while touching my hand.
He was two years old and probably didn’t understand what “money” meant yet. Electronic money is confusing, but kids easily learned to play with it.
Things are different now and in the future, children may struggle with math. This affects daily life.
(2023.09.24)
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