Madison has the most amazing imagination. Sometimes I stand outside her bedroom door and listen to the conversation she is having with her Baby Alive or her Tea Time Belle or her Build-a-Bear Kitty (Addison Emma) and think she is no longer a toddler, but a mini adult.
Lately, though, I have been having a very hard time with the imagination. I am a creative person and want to promote creative play, but she has declared herself a boy and renamed herself Rebby (last week she was Joey). If I call her Madison or Maddie she corrects me by saying, "I'm Rebby, not Maddie/Madison." It is driving me crazy. She also has an imaginary friend named Demetri (last week it was Honey). I have to pretend to dress him and feed him and buckle him into the car.
Today when Maddie walked into school her teacher said, "Hi Maddie" and Maddie quickly replied with her, "I'm not Maddie, I'm Rebby", so I had to explain to the teacher what was going on. She laughed and said it was a normal phase and that she'd seen many other kids do this.
Maddie and I had a talk after dinner tonight and made a deal. I told her we are very happy that she has such a wonderful imagination, but we need to put a limit on her pretend play. So, she is not aloud to pretend she is a boy with a different name at school or at the table. Other than that, she is free to pretend as she pleases. I hope this phase passes by quickly.
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