Being a Butler

My 6 year old daughter E has a dominant personality and gravitates towards being a leader in almost everything she is doing. It’s great that she is taking charge, but at times, I would like her to give her friends a turn. It’s good to play different roles so you can understand what certain people go through. Gives you a different perspective and higher empathy.

When I walked home after dropping E off at school, one of the parents talked to me about how her daughter was playing the queen during recess and how E and her best friend were the butlers. The parent was slightly concerned about how her daughter was the queen because she didn’t want her daughter to always try to take charge.

I started to laugh because it was the same worry I had with E and also I loved imagining E as a butler. I reassured the parent that it was totally fine and that I wanted E to play as a butler more often because she tends to want to be the queen. It was also because E probably wanted to be the same thing as her best friend and butlers sounded like a fun thing to be together. Regardless of the reason, I’m glad she wasn’t the queen. It’s good to take turns and maybe the next time she is queen, she will treat the butlers differently because she was one!