Blog Post 2 (Huizinga)

     In Huizinga’s reading, I found the topic of kids and their awareness of ‘only pretending’ or ‘only for fun’ to be very interesting. The text goes on to say that kids are always aware that when they play, it’s only pretending, but that sometimes it can get very serious, like telling their parents about the ‘rule’ of whatever it is they are playing. It makes me think about how it seems like an escape from reality for that child, yet they know that at some point it will have to end. 

     I thought about this when I was babysitting. The kids wanted to play and pretend that they were shooting off fireworks (of course this was the day after the 4th of July) but they wanted to be in charge. The kids grabbed a bucket and a stick, pretended to have a lighter, and told me to back up, made me look up at the sky, and every time they hit that bucket to make a ‘boom’ I had to say wow or ooh. It reminded me that these kids weren’t in charge (their escape from reality was to be in charge), so they knew that they were pretending for fun to be in charge, but also was very serious about it, I had to follow the rules and do what they said.