"Mommy I'm you, and you're him, and he's me"

[JamieCatheryn]

DS1 is 4 and he's been doing this several months maybe a year. It's one of his favorite games. Mostly I am him and he is me, or he's his brother, or he's our neighbor and lives next door in his playhouse. Sometimes he puts his hat on me to signify I'm him. Anybody else's kids play the identity switch-ups repeatedly every day?

[2cutiekitties]

Yep, with my 3 yr old. Mainly I am him and he is me, but sometimes I am the neighbor and he is their dog, and he wants me to yell at him for being a bad dog

[mom2happy]

Yes, both of mine did it and one still does.
A lot of young children do this.
Its fun and- I have to say much easier than playing dolls or action figures! I used to do the dishes and pretend I was the kid helping my mom or dad. I was able to do all of my housework while they followed me around and felt great that I "played all day"
Enjoy!

[pbjmama]

My ds was 'dad' for months. I'm the dad and I'm in charge, etc. Never ever broke character. We mostly went with it. I mean, we were the parents but decided to address him as dad and such. Finally one day his dad said I'm ready to be the dad again and suddenly we were back to our traditional family!

Now he role plays as a cat. Alot. He insists on being called by his cat name, sleeps in his special cat house at night, etc. Sometimes he will go back to being a boy, for awhile but then the cat comes out again.

[rhiOrion]

I remember being a cat.

[ecoteat]

We do this all day. And it changes every few minutes. It gets really confusing to keep track of who is playing whom from minute to minute!

[ElliesMomma]

yup. it's easy for the parent to play this game. when she says "you be so and so," i just ask her, "ok, what does so and so have to do?" she tells me one or two (easy) things, and so i do them... and she does the entire rest of the game. easy peasy!!

[lonegirl]

Yup!!
My son often becomes the cat. Or we have to be the cat. Other times he tells us to press the pretend button....then he says #1 is Good Tyr #2 is Bad Tyr #6 is Crazy Tyr (with a crazy voice) #8 is Pizza Tyr (then makes and delivers pretend pizza)
LOL it is fun and silly to be 3.5

[Holiztic]

DS loved this at 2.5. I'd get so confused "Ok, who am I again?" but DS could always keep it straight. He'd yell up the stairs to DH "Mommy" and DH wouldn't answer, so he'd keep calling "Mommy" and if I said "Yes?" he'd say "No, you're Quinn, I'm Daddy, and he's Mommy" And yes, sometimes I was the cat. Sometimes he'd also include friends and family that weren't even here. Sometimes we were all characters from Pooh or another book.

Seems very normal to me!

[butterfly_mommy]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

I remember being a cat.

Me too! I remember wearing a tail which was a pinned on stocking stuffed with cotton and drinking milk from a plate.

On our house now DS is just getting into the role play stuff. It is usually me or DH that have to be Sasha (DS' best friend who is 3) it's funny hearing my big 300+ lb, bearded, deep voiced DH playing the part of a 3 year old girl

[Maela]

I didn't know this was so normal!! Dd has been doing this for months now!

I play along, but I sometimes tell her that I just want to be Mama for a little while. She's constantly changing who we all are - even the baby has to become someone else. Every time I forget and call someone by their real name, she reminds me. And I have to talk like that person too. That's the part that's hard for me; I hardly ever get to use my own voice! Sometimes I'm a relative or an animal or a tv character like caillou's mommy (that's the easiest) or mickey mouse...etc. Sometimes it's just that she's a baby again, and I have to talk to her like she's a baby. For a little while, I was worried that her baby brother might not ever learn our names because we're always calling ourselves by different names!

It is cute though, and I'm glad she knows how to pretend.

[Mrs.Burke]

that's a favorite 3 y/o play. my daughter would pretend to be the mommy and me her child.

[Julie1014]

Definitely! And the cats are involved, also, for good measure

[lolar2]

When he plays that game, DS's imitations of everyone in the family are hilariously spot-on.

[Embee]

Fantastic game (if not a little exhausting for us adults at times ). I am a huge fan of Playful Parenting (Cohen) and so early on, I recognized this game as incredibly essential to learning about life, in particular, what it's like stepping into another's shoes. Empathy lessons! Also, the idea of taking on a role that is more "in charge" can be very empowering for DS, to the extent that he doesn't always feel the need to well, be in charge. Role play/exchange was a huge part of DS's play m.o., for years, although it has waned in recent years (he's 9 1/2). And although at times it did tucker me out, I'm ever so thankful for all those role play games! They got us through all sorts of life's ups and downs.

Ah, these kids are so smart. They know just what they need and they go for it. What a blessing that our kids have mamas (and Dads!) who are willing to give them the floor, following their lead, and play along!

The best,
Em

[Girlprof]

DS was Dolly Parton for awhile which was probably the funniest. He just knew her music so he had no idea why that was so hysterical.

When I was little, I turned everyone in my family into Barbar characters. I was Celeste (best girl available, I guess). My dad was Barbar. My brother was "That Rascal Arthur" and my poor my was the Old Lady, of course, LOL.