Have you seen Mazzy? I have been looking for her everywhere. There is someone in my house that looks like Mazzy and talks like Mazzy but when I call her "Mazzy", she says, "No, Mom. I'm Thomas."
"Thomas the English Muffin?"
"No, Mom. Thomas THE TRAIN!!!!"
"Oh, right. Of course."
For some reason, Mazzy didn't spark to Thomas the Train when she was two like the rest of the children on the planet. She sparked to Thomas NOW. So while other kids seem to be moving on to princesses and superheros, Mazzy is stuck in a locomotive phase.
"Mom! Want to play TRAINS???"
"Playing Trains" means that Mazzy will assign you and everyone around you a "train name" and then for the next three weeks (and counting), you will have to successfully identify everyone by their designated "train name" or risk punishment by TRAIN LAW.
Note: TRAIN LAW is decreed by Mazzy (aka Thomas) and Mazzy alone. It is subject to change at any moment and it makes no sense AT ALL.
"Harlow, would you like dinner?"
"That's not Harlow! THAT'S JAMES!!!!!"
"Sorry, James would you like dinner?"
"TRAINS DON'T EAT, MOM!!!!!"
"Oh right. Harlow, would you like some fuel?"
"It's JAMES!!!!!!!!"
"Sorry. James would you like some fuel?"
"Good job, Mom. We're playing TRAINS!!!!!!"
Yep, Mazzy, this sure is fun!
It's gotten to the point where I'm no longer sure where the game ends and where real life begins. Kind of like the Michael Douglas movie The Game, except instead of fighting for my life, I am googling "train lingo" so I can successfully parent a train without it yelling at me.
"Mazzy, put on your shoes, we're leaving."
"NOOOOO!!!!"
"Thomas, put on your tracks, we're departing the station. If we don't go now, we won't make it to Knapford on time to pick up the rest of the passengers!"
"Okay, Percy!"
Did I mention, I'm Percy?
So you see, "Playing Trains" isn't all bad. If you play by the rules, it can be used to great advantage.
"Can you please move, Mazzy? I'm trying to make the bed."
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!! I'm playing TRAINS!!!!!!!"
"Thomas, I've been given strict orders to tidy up the train yard. Can you take your caboose over to the quarry? "
"Sure, Percy!"
The best moment in "Playing Trains" was a few weeks ago. Mazzy had named herself Thomas, Harlow as James, myself as Percy and then Mike walked in the door.
"Who is Daddy?"
"He's Cranky!" Mazzy squealed, giving me the best present I've gotten since my marraige began. Telling my rather ornery husband things like, "Stop being so Cranky, Cranky!" is just too much fun for words.
Still, there is only so much Thomas a person can take. Mazzy wants to play in the morning, after lunch, in the car, all throughout dinner and insists I say "Goodnight, Thomas" after I put her to bed.
I keep waiting for the fad to die out but apparently, "playing trains" has more staying power than Madonna and Mick Jagger combined.
Yesterday, was the last day at our summer rental in Quogue. From Day One, being out at the house amped up Mazzy's train obsession, since she had the entire yard to treat like her own personal Island of Sodor.
Before we all piled into the car to leave, we took a final walk to the dock to say goodbye. This somehow evolved into a bizarro version of Goodnight Moon, where we each took turns saying goodbye to something about the house.
ME: Goodbye, dock.
MAZZY: Goodbye, boats.
MIKE: Goodbye, yard.
ME: Goodbye, pool.
MAZZY: Goodbye, trees.
MIKE: Goodbye, geese poop.
ME: Goodbye, trains.
MAZZY: NOOOOO!!!! We can play trains at home!!!!
Oh well, it was worth a shot.
——————————————–
Please tell me I am not the only one with a kid who insists you call them something other than their name? Who/what does your kid pretend to be?
I was a nanny for a little boy named Smith (also 3), only I was never allowed to call him Smith. Everyday it changed. As soon as I’d get to the house he’d tell me who he was….Thomas, Dora, Flower, Ninja….now THAT is hard to keep up with!!!
Ha! Love it. My son never would have let anyone else be Percy (green and six being on his favourite list) so he would see you as quite the most popular! His sister was usually Emily. I would get called Gordon if I was being “bossy” or James if not and Daddy was the Fat Controller which is either a compliment for being in charge or a gross slur on his physique! Our daughter is currently in a Dora phase while he has moved on to Disney Planes but alas, I am constantly getting it wrong and calling Dusty and Rochelle Dora and Diego…. Silly Boots/Alicia/Mummy. And if they are playing mummies and daddies I get to be Grandma which is great for the self-esteem!
This is hilarious. My kids, aged 2 and 4, are fine with their names except right when I put them to bed and then they each pick something weird that I have to say good night to. I’ve had to say ‘Good night Gordon the stuck wooden train’ and ‘Good night A the curtain’, and a million variations.
Not really. But sometimes she will want to mix up who we are, so I am Daddy, her dad is her sisters name etc. And for some reason it is hysterically funny …. to her.
Cutest thing is that the daycare unbeknownst to them or us, just happened to pick the exact same nickname for her that we had chosen from birth! We never called her that at daycare dropoff so was huge cooncidence. But then it gave it staying power, so now there are bunches of kids from our close friends to her daycare friends to areas in life where they interceded with other groups of kids, that use the same affectionate yet unique nickname for her. Is actually really neat!!
I wish for a consistent name game!
My three year old changes personas by the minute. And sometimes they aren’t fictional.
So far we’ve been: Mickey and Minnie Mouse (baby Pluto), monkeys, owls, dragons, Dora (baby boots), lalaloopsy characters, Elmo (baby big bird), bananas, wide mouth bull frogs, her friend Evee and her friend Brenna today. It’s now 7:45.
Also for your consideration:
We get up between 4 and 5 in this house.
I do not drink caffeine because I am breastfeeding a child who can’t tolerate it when I have it.
Mazzy does that too. Last week, I walked into the bedroom, just out of the shower and Mazzy was playing with Mike and Harlow in the bed. She said, “We’re playing house! I’m the Mommy, Daddy is the Daddy, Harlow is the big sister and you’re the DINOSAUR!” I wrote that on facebook and someone said it was an episode of Daniel Tiger which makes total sense.
Mazzy used to pretend to be all different things depending on the day (or the hour) but she’s recently devoted herself to Thomas. We’ve been her friends, Dora characters (typically I am Boots), Team Umizoomi characters, mermaids, etc.
The most confusing is when Mazzy insists on renaming the characters in her books as all of her friends. It always changes and I am the one who has to read the book and sub all the names correctly. I don’t know how she remembers them all but she always seems to know when I am “wrong”.
I love Mazzy now more than I ever have. I am so impressed with her consistency. Really and truly.
Also? I contacted Erin from Pickles and Ice Cream and we are 4 days in to the Do Not Feed the Baby at Night plan, and I am just about over the moon. There were no checkins needed last night till after 4am. Before I was a parent, I might have said, What? You’re paying someone to tell you to leave the baby in the crib? Now, I say, Yes, I am spending one or two hotel nights in a small city’s worth to get the information and support I need for my 11-mo-old to get the sleep he needs at night, and me, too. Hell, yes. So, thank you!!
for an entire year we were all Fireman Sam characters around here, but it seems to have worn off now for the most part. hope your stretch as Percy is a little shorter than mine as Station Officer Steel!
Milo is a different superhero depending on the day. It also follows into the bedtime story reading. I am not allowed to call the story characters by their real names – every single one of them must be referred to as “batman,” or “spiderman.” “Goodnight spiderman, goodnight spiderman, goodnight spiderman jumping over the spiderman.” It gets a little old, but he finds it to be hilarious!
Oh, goodness, that is so funny. My two-year-old was Tinkerbell for a long time. She recently made the switch to Jake (and the Neverland Pirates). Heaven help you if you forget and call her by her real name.
This is hilarious. Roozle was horrified by Thomas when she was two and the rest of the two year old planet was All Trains and just discovered the Great Joy Of Thomas All The Time OMG when she turned four.
I seriously wish you lived closer to Boston so you could take Mazzy to see Real Thomas. Her head would explode for sure.
http://www.lifewithroozle.com/2013/09/01/a-day-out-with-thomas/
Have you ever read A Joyful Noise by Janet Gillespie? It’s a hilarious book about her childhood summers at the point. You should, in your spare time, check it out. It’s very sweet and you can relive your vacation…sans Thomas.
I love this imaginative phase. I think it’s too adorable.
Like Tara, we are currently in a Tinkerbell phase. ANd for a little while she called me her sister, Periwinkle. It was adorable.
haha, my nephew was “Elvis” for almost a whole year!
I have a 5 year old, wanna be robot. It’s really amazing what he’ll do, without complaint, if I push a button on my hand and say beep.
Thomas is a big deal in our house as well…and I think he has staying power.
it’s good to know that this mild schizophrenia is actually common in toddlers, I thought it was just mine. But for some reason my children make up their names instead of model it after some well known book or cartoon character and it’s usually something that sounds real foreign. The other day my daughter said her name was Clergklurmp? and my son was Gloiner? I think they might have been Russians or Germans in another life…or vikings? Idk.
My son thinks he’s a cat. He can’t speak enough words to tell me, but by how much he meows and prefers to pick up things with his mouth instead of his hands, I’m sure he thinks he’s a cat.
But then again, I guess I’m to blame since we’re becoming the cat family (3 cats and counting).
My Son was SpiderMan for almost 6 months, and he also wore the mask! We got SO much attention every where we went, people in the cars next to us would wave hi to us, or the funniest was when people would make pre tend “web” us with their fingers. Lol
At least Thomas the train talks. My daughter was a horse and all I could get from her was “Ney.” Sometimes she’s also a dragon, where she just growls. All of the creatures she pretends to be never talk. So we go through days of her just growling at me and I’m expected to understand it.
I would KILL for some Thomas the Train interest. It’s all princess stuff, all the time around here. The only exception is her one doll named Justin Steven Beyonce (after Bieber/Tyler/no last name needed). No wonder Justin Steven Beyonce is my favorite.
My 3 year old is more into giving other people names. Today he started calling me Amy. When I asked him what my name really was he said “Miss Karen” and laughed hysterically. How about Mom? Mommy? Mama?
Occasionally he does insist that he is Mickey Mouse and I’m Minnie. My husband, he’s Goofy. 🙂
If it makes you feel better, V has been stuck on Thomas for almost two years and counting, and the obsession is still going strong (which I’m fine with me so long as it delays the princess phase). And if it helps, about a year ago, I devised the Official Thomas & Friends Drinking Game for Thomas-weary parents everywhere. Not surprisingly, it’s my most popular post. Like, ever. http://www.saidkristin.com/2012/08/the-official-thomas-and-friends-drinking-game/
My daughter is a different character every day. She’s so imaginative! She even picks bully characters and plays a game where they turn nice, (Diamond Tiara is her favorite pony, but in her mind DT is BFF with the crusaders and helps them find their cutie marks). I love just watching her play make-believe. Even if sometimes I get reprimanded for using the wrong name.
Our family, extended family, mailman etc have all been “assigned” train names. it is hilarious how spot on some of them are. Other suggested phrases to make the most of this bizarre time : To get small people to go potty> “time to empty our boilers” And when having to leave the park> ” time to go back to Tidmouth Shed, Sir Topham Hat is waiting” or changing clothes “Percy needs a new coat of paint”
I know this would just prolong her obsession but have you looked at a Day out with Thomas to see if there is one in your area? They come to our area once a year you go and actually get to ride Thomas the train and meet Sir Tophamhatt and do a bunch of Thomas stuff. My son loves it!
We are in a very similar situation with my almost-3 year old daughter whose life is now what we like to refer to as “pretend preschool”. That is ALL she wants to play. Her name is Miss Maggie and I am Miss Mommy and my husband is Miss Daddy. Everything is in role. The other night I had to wipe her after going to the bathroom and she said “Teachers don’t wipe other teachers, mom!” so I quickly said that Miss Mommy teachers do have to make sure that the other teachers have clean hinders. Please dear lord let her forget that one! Love your site!
Cranky the crane… go daddy! 🙂 my son is still in this phase at age four. He started around 1 years old. It never gets old (right, RIGHT?).
When I was a kid I always pretended to be a dog that had some elaborate back story. My favorite was Daisy the three-legged Golden Retriever 😛
My niece can never decide if she wants her name to be “Sasha” or if she wants her name to be “Sonnie” and “grow up and marry Uncle Josh”.
Her name is Kacey.
We have A Day Out With Thomas here in California. My daughter and I went with my sister and my nephew and both kids loved it. 🙂
SHE MAKES ME CALL HER ELSA I HATE FROZEN
Just stumbled upon this, via your ’10 fights i have every day’ post. had to check all the dates, because if you’re STILL a train… XD