Stuart Little... not so little anymore

We have started reading bigger big kid books lately. We started Stuart Little on a car trip a few weeks ago and Pablo really liked it. So much so that he wanted a REAL Stuart to live with us. In the chaos of the trip, his Stuart obsession drifted away. We forgot about it. Then a few nights ago we started reading the book at bedtime.

I have to say, this obsession puts all others to shame. Before, PRETENDING to was enough. Now, he wants the real thing. First he wanted Stuart to come out of the book and live with us. We talked all about real versus pretend. No dice. He BELIEVES in Stuart. We talked about Stuart living in our imaginations. Also no good. I was clearly not willing to cooperate. The tears started to flow.

We compromised by agreeing to INVITE Stuart out of the book to visit. This involved my actually yelling at the book(several times, and at the top of my lungs), "STUART, COME OUT!!! COME VISIT US!!!," confirming with Pablo that I had yelled loud enough, then flipping slowly through the pages so Stuart had every chance to jump out of the book. Whadd'ya know. Stuart didn't accept the invitation. Pablo was clearly flabbergasted. (I have to say, the original reason for Stuart to come live with us was because Stuart was in great peril and Pablo wanted to rescue him... my boy's heart is in the right place.)

This evening he upped the ante. Now he wants to BE Stuart. I failed him in this too, since pretending is no longer sufficient. He cried and wailed and sobbed, but I wouldn't agree to what Pablo wanted. In other words, I refused to ACTUALLY TURN MY SON INTO A 2 INCH TALKING MOUSE. Go ahead and report me, folks, I was cruel. I tried explaining that the best way to be Stuart was to read the book and "go into his world." Not good enough. He wanted a tail. That, I could do (thank the gods for his Cat in the Hat tail I made for last Halloween even if it is the wrong color). He wanted ears. I was going to try to whip some up but then he explained that I was supposed to "get rid of" his human ears and "replace them" with mouse ears. He couldn't wash his hands after going potty because the sink was "too high" and the ladder (stool) was "too big." The invisible ones I placed for him to "climb" were unacceptable because he couldn't see them. I informed him that if he wants to be Stuart Little, his eyesight needs to get keener.

Please, let this phase go quickly. I just can't take all the ACTUAL tears from my little... mouse.