When I Was Your Age…

Joshua’s in that fun zone of childhood where he likes to pretend to be someone else. And in pretending to be someone else we inevitably all become characters in whatever fantasy land he’s living in for the day. Or the minute. Because that’s how rapidly our identities change these days.

Some days he’s “Somic” and refers to me as Tails and Dan as Knuckles. Emma is Amy. Annie is Shadow.

Or we’re assorted characters from Super Mario Brothers. He’s Luigi. I’m Princess. Emma is Toad. Annie doesn’t get to play. She doesn’t even get to be Yoshi. (Which is probably good because otherwise Joshua might try to ride her and while she IS a large dog, she’s not actually a horse.)

Then there’s Angry Birds. And Angry Birds Lightsaber Birds. He assigns our new identities somewhat willy nilly always saving his favorites for himself. Of course.

He knows so much stuff about so much stuff and this week he learned his planets. (Thanks in part to Bubble Guppies. Not ashamed to admit that. Just like I’m not ashamed to admit that he knows classical music and the Mona Lisa from Little Einsteins.)

All week we’ve been talking about planets. Which planet is the hot planet. (Mercury. ::angry face::) Which is the cold planet. (Neptune! Brrrr!) Which is the most beautiful planet. (Earth, natch.)

Today he entered what has to be my absolute favorite identity crisis ever. Because it led to a great little conversation with my best boy at lunch. Which I shall now recount for you and for him for one day in the future when he reads this blog because the internet doesn’t forget, right?

Here goes.

“Mama, I am Mercury! I am very hot! I have an angry face! See!!” ::makes angry face::

“Wow, Joshua! That’s a really angry face!”

“I am not Joshua! I am Mercury! And you are…you are VENUS!” (which does not at all sound like Venus at least 40% of the time.)

“Oh, cool. I like Venus. That’s a cool planet.”

“And Emma is…Emma is…what is she?”

“Well, Emma can be Neptune.”

“Right! Emma is Neptune! The cooooooooold planet! Brrrrr!!!”

“Emma doesn’t look very cold.”

“Well, she is. And Daddy is…what is Daddy is?”

“Daddy can be…hmmmm…”

“Daddy is JUPITER!”

“That’s really cool. I think Daddy will like being Jupiter.”

“And what can Annie is?”

“Annie can be…hmmm…she can be Pluto!”

I thought renaming Annie to Pluto might work because, hey, Pluto is Mickey’s dog and Joshua loves Mickey! We read Mickey and the Pet Shop at least 3 times a week! He totally knows Pluto! Both dogs are Pluto!

Instead of enthusiasm, my excited bubble was burst:

“No, Mama. She has to be a planet.”

And so Annie became Mars. Because Pluto isn’t a planet anymore.

The reteaching of our solar system has begun.

We remember you, poor Pluto.