My parents, at my request, bought my son a doll. At school, he likes the dolls because he pretends like he’s a parent. I wanted him to have a doll at home. When I mention this, there is shock and horror in the land. The conversations have been going like this:

“You bought your son a doll?”

“Yep.”

“But he’s a boy.”

“Yep. And it has the cutest little pink outfit.”

“Oh.”

Here’s the truth. I’ve found the doll to be a very useful parenting tool. In my household, my husband and I are equal partners in parenting. There is no reason for my son to think that taking care of a baby is a mommy’s job and not a daddy’s job. Here’s why I like the doll:

• Pretending is an important part of child’s development. I’ve enjoyed the leap that he’s made. Not only does he play with his toys, but he is now pretending that his toys are other things - stacking cups have become bowls from the kitchen and a calculator is a cell phone. He “makes dinner” for us and tells us to eat our soup. We dutifully pretend to eat pretend soup from a pretend spoon.
  
  
  SPONSOR
  

  
  
  




• He likes to use his baby to mimic real life. He pretends to put the doll to bed and I hear him repeat our nighttime ritual as he tucks the baby under the covers. Watching gives me an idea of how he views the things I do for him.
  




• At his age, the rules are a little fuzzy in his two year old brain…but I am able to get an understanding of what he really knows. When I hear him say, “No bite. Time out.” and see him carry the doll to the time out corner…I’m getting a pretty good idea of what he views as important.
  




• Sometimes, the doll becomes his voice…Baby is tired…Baby is hungry…Baby is sad…
  

If you would like to comment, but not on this site, please e-mail me at adoptkoreablog@adoptionmail.com.