Argh!!!!!!!! - pretend play

ammommy wrote: Will someone please make the baby Jaguar go away Alec has been pretending to be a baby Jaguar (thanks, Diego) for 4 days now and he's driving me batty! I know that pretend play is good and normal, but enough is enough already. I've told him to start acting like a boy again but all he hears is .
Is it inappropriate to put him in timeout for this since he's not listening when I tell him to stop or should I just let it go? I'm getting sick of hearing "meow, meow, meow."

kit_kats_mom replied: I feel your pain. We have our own little puppy (Katherine) and we have had her for almost 6 months now. She knows that puppy isn't welcome at the dinner table, and that she can't poop or pee outside (which, as she is constantly reminding us, puppies do). Otherwise, we just let her be a puppy.

PrairieMom replied: I'm glad to hear that i'm not the only one! My little boy is a "Puppy " too! He wants to poo poo in the grass like the dog, and even barks over our fence at people walking by. The other day when we were walking to the park he stoped, got on all fours and "lifted his leg" of the neighbors fence. I was mortified!
How long will this phase last? good giref!

amynicole21 replied: Sophia is a puppy too!! She actually licked me the other day

mom21kid2dogs replied:
Well at least you didn't get sniffed in the . . ..well, you know!!

ammommy replied:

luvbug00 replied: LOL Mya's friend is mario and she talks to him alot!! I'm starting to get freaked out about it.

ions_momma replied: LOL! I have had a puppy and a tiger before! Thankfully I havent had either for a while though!

A&A'smommy replied: OMG that is halarious!! I don't have a clue what I would do in that situation!!

My3LilMonkeys replied: ammommy, I have not had this problem with my kids yet but my SIL had it with her son (he was a dinosaur). She basically set rules for when and where the dinosaur was allowed - The dinosaur can play outside or in your room, but in the living room only kids are allowed, no dinosaurs at the dinner table, ok in the car but not in the store, etc., to limit the time that she had to listen to the roaring. And whenever he wanted something he had to ask for it politely, not just take it (his logic was that dinosaurs are big and strong and can take whatever they want without asking) or he went in timeout. It worked very well for them and the phase only lasted a month or so.

HTH!

mommy X2 replied: Have you tried using another animal for alec asking him to be a dog for a while....my son is a cat all the time.... but he is not obsessive about it (thank god...not yet anyway) Maybe try asking him to pretend he is Diego instead of the jaguar? or telling him to draw a pic of jaguar so that maybe yuo'll have some piece and quiet for at least a few minutes

CantWait replied: Anthony likes to play dog also. He'll lick me, then laugh and do it all over again

ammommy replied: Thanks for the stories and advice everyone. Unfortunately, now Megan has joined in the act At least now they can play together upstairs since the wood floors downstairs aren't safe for Jaguars---they slip and fall

punkeemunkee'smom replied: Tay has had a jaguar for about 6 months now-Diego was on Dora with one a long time ago and we have many,many animals and friends that come and go. The pedi says it shows advanced inteligence and good developing social skills. We think it is pretty funny and so Dh and I just play along. Sometimes she will carry on full conversations with them and has some amazing stories of the adventures they have together. She rarely pretends that she is an animal but does pretend all the time to be a princess or a fairy,etc... I like it when I get to be Queen Mommy!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Oye I feel your pain.

Not only is Zach (3 years old) Baby Jaguar - he is also BOOTS.

OoooOoooAaaaAaaaaaaaaaa..........

and EMilie likes to imitate her brother.... so while it's cute to see them galloping on all fours up and down the hallway barking or whatever, they encourage each other... and it's twice as hard to get them to STOP!

ALl their toys etc is in their rooms.... which are next to each other, at the ned of the hall... so as long as they stay in the hall or their rooms while acting like this...it's all good.

ammommy replied: He tried to be Baby Jaguar at the dentist today, but I told him that this was only for big boys and girls, no animals allowed. I've realized that he does this alot when he is in an uncomfortable situation. It seems to be his safety device. That will be a fun one to work through carefully.