Some parents obsess over baby milestones, anxiously awaiting the first tooth, first word or first step. But for me, the most exciting day was when my year-old son placed two toy vegetables in a plastic bucket, stirred it purposefully with a stick and said ?Mmm!? with all the panache of a master chef. He proudly toddled over to me with this inspired cucumber-and-mushroom concoction. It was the first clear example we saw of him playing make-believe, and my heart puffed up like a giant soufflé. I had been waiting for this day for so long, so immediately after asking him ?Are you making a soup"? I turned to my wife and said ?It?s time to start thinking about a play kitchen.?
I dove headfirst into the research. Was a wooden or plastic model best" Something simple or something fancy, with a microwave oven that beeped" What did kids like" What did parents like" Should we just make one ourselves" I finally decided on a basic but well-designed wooden model, which I spruced up with a little yellow-and-copper-coloured spray paint. I filled it with a carefully curated assortment of pretend foods and other tiny accessories: metal pots and pans, handmade felt fruits and vegetables and wooden doughnuts that could be baked again and again. I was completely exhausted after assembling it, yet I found myself rearranging the tiny accessories again and again, standing back to admire my work. The next morning, he was initially surprised to find what he considered a...