The trouble with names...
Trying to explain to a three year old that animals and people can share the same name is very confusing. Gunnar saw "Frozen" a few weeks ago. A movie which has characters that have the same names as our cats...this has been very confusing for Gunnar.
Today at nap time:
"Go sit by Sven" (our 10 year old gray cat is sitting on Gunnar's bed)
"The REINDEER from "Frozen"??!!! Where is he? I don't see him mommy!"
"No...Not the Reindeer from "Frozen"...our cat Sven. Go sit by your cat Sven."
"No mommy, his name can't be Sven. Sven is a Reindeer from the Movie "Frozen" my cat's name is Sveny."
"Well actually his name is just Sven. Sveny is just a nickname we call him sometimes. He was Sven long before "Sven, the Reindeer from Frozen" was ever even thought of"
"No mommy. Sven is a Reindeer, like Santa's reindeer so he's OLD. Sveny is just a baby and his name isn't Sven"
"Why do you say that? Sven is 10 years old, he's not a baby...he's 7 years older than you!"
"No he isn't. You talk to him like he's a baby mommy." (whoops! Do I?)
"Well maybe I do that because I don't think he understands as much as you do so I use little words with him and big words with you. Let's choose a story for nap time."
"Okay how about three stories?"
"How about two?"
"Okay I choose these two!" Gunnar picks up the two big boy chapter books he got for Christmas from Great Aunt Steph and Uncle Dave.
"Oh...um...well buddy those are called Chapter books. They're really long. So if you want I can read you a chapter but there won't be many pictures and that's all we can read for nap time. Is that what you want to do?"
"YES! I want to read this book about HENRY! Henry the train! He's friends with Thomas mommy!"
"Oh...oh no honey...this is a book about Henry Huggins. He's a boy. Not a train. They just have the same name."
"No Henry is a train. He has coal. He's a coal train and he lives on the island of Sodor."
"Gunnar. Look at the cover of this book. Do you see a train?"
"No."
"What do you see?"
"I see a boy and a bicycle."
"Yes this is a boy named Henry and this is a book about Henry and his paper route."
"Hmmm that's not what I was thinking"
"Do you still want to read it?"
"YES!"
To my surprise Gunnar sits through the entire first chapter. He even asks questions along the way. But when our other cat Elsa wanders in the room just as I'm tucking him into bed....this happens:
"Oh look Elsa wants to nap with you too!"
"Elsa the Queen from "Frozen"?"
"No honey, your cat Elsa...look here she comes"
"No mommy...that's not Elsa. Elsa is a Queen from the movie "Frozen"...my kitty's name is Duke Dukes"
"Oh no honey...her name is Elsa, see it says so on her collar? Duke Dukes is just a silly name your daddy and I call her sometimes."
"No mommy. That's Duke Dukes, and that is Sveny."
"Well their names are Elsa and Sven. They happen to have the same names as the characters in "Frozen" but it's okay honey, you can call them that if you want to."
Trying to reason with a 3 year old is a challenge. But hey bonus! I have a 3 year old who wants to read chapter books! Maybe Harry Potter isn't so far away!
Today at nap time:
"Go sit by Sven" (our 10 year old gray cat is sitting on Gunnar's bed)
"The REINDEER from "Frozen"??!!! Where is he? I don't see him mommy!"
"No...Not the Reindeer from "Frozen"...our cat Sven. Go sit by your cat Sven."
"No mommy, his name can't be Sven. Sven is a Reindeer from the Movie "Frozen" my cat's name is Sveny."
"Well actually his name is just Sven. Sveny is just a nickname we call him sometimes. He was Sven long before "Sven, the Reindeer from Frozen" was ever even thought of"
"No mommy. Sven is a Reindeer, like Santa's reindeer so he's OLD. Sveny is just a baby and his name isn't Sven"
"Why do you say that? Sven is 10 years old, he's not a baby...he's 7 years older than you!"
"No he isn't. You talk to him like he's a baby mommy." (whoops! Do I?)
"Well maybe I do that because I don't think he understands as much as you do so I use little words with him and big words with you. Let's choose a story for nap time."
"Okay how about three stories?"
"How about two?"
"Okay I choose these two!" Gunnar picks up the two big boy chapter books he got for Christmas from Great Aunt Steph and Uncle Dave.
"Oh...um...well buddy those are called Chapter books. They're really long. So if you want I can read you a chapter but there won't be many pictures and that's all we can read for nap time. Is that what you want to do?"
"YES! I want to read this book about HENRY! Henry the train! He's friends with Thomas mommy!"
"Oh...oh no honey...this is a book about Henry Huggins. He's a boy. Not a train. They just have the same name."
"No Henry is a train. He has coal. He's a coal train and he lives on the island of Sodor."
"Gunnar. Look at the cover of this book. Do you see a train?"
"No."
"What do you see?"
"I see a boy and a bicycle."
"Yes this is a boy named Henry and this is a book about Henry and his paper route."
"Hmmm that's not what I was thinking"
"Do you still want to read it?"
"YES!"
To my surprise Gunnar sits through the entire first chapter. He even asks questions along the way. But when our other cat Elsa wanders in the room just as I'm tucking him into bed....this happens:
"Oh look Elsa wants to nap with you too!"
"Elsa the Queen from "Frozen"?"
"No honey, your cat Elsa...look here she comes"
"No mommy...that's not Elsa. Elsa is a Queen from the movie "Frozen"...my kitty's name is Duke Dukes"
"Oh no honey...her name is Elsa, see it says so on her collar? Duke Dukes is just a silly name your daddy and I call her sometimes."
"No mommy. That's Duke Dukes, and that is Sveny."
"Well their names are Elsa and Sven. They happen to have the same names as the characters in "Frozen" but it's okay honey, you can call them that if you want to."
Trying to reason with a 3 year old is a challenge. But hey bonus! I have a 3 year old who wants to read chapter books! Maybe Harry Potter isn't so far away!
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| SVEN and ELSA "the cats" |
| Sven the Reindeer from "Frozen" |
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| Elsa from "Frozen" |
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