Dexter loves his trains. In classic little-boy-who-loves-trains fashion, he also loves Thomas the Tank Engine. For Christmas he got 2 engines from the Thomas series: Thomas and Percy. He also got a little black Melissa and Doug engine we nicknamed Smoky. He plays with these trains every day, and recently has been taking them to bed with him. Not only does he take them to bed with him, he likes to have them on his pillow, touching his head. I know, it doesn't look very comfortable to me either, but the boy loves his trains.
In a way that is SO Dexter, he continues to insist that the green train he has is "Not Percy". The conversation will go like this:
"Momma, what dis train?"
"Dex, that's Percy."
"No, Momma, dat not Percy! What dat train?"
"Dex, I think that's Percy, it says Percy on the bottom."
"No, Momma. Dat not Percy."
This conversation will tend to repeat itself 5-10 times before I finally give up and beg him just to tell me who he thinks the train is. Frankie, Chris, and I have taken turns trying to convince him that it is indeed Percy. It says Percy on the bottom of the engine!
(exhibit A)
With a smile and a twinkle in his eye, Dexter now calls the green train "Not Percy". He'll be talking quietly to himself, lining up his trains lovingly, and say "Thomas, Smochie, Not Percy..."
This is SO Dexter because he's not only being incredible stubborn about something that doesn't actually matter, but he thinks it's funny, partly because I think he knows that it is actually Percy, and he thinks it's funny just to have his own opinion on the matter. He doesn't want to actually tell you who he thinks the train is, because then the fun conversation of you trying to guess who he thinks it is will be over.
Fortunately for Dexter, we happen to think this is really funny too. It can be frustrating when he gets argumentative for argument's sake (this already happens so often, I'm really scared of his teen years), but in this case we all just play along and laugh with him.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Not Percy
Posted by Jenny at 2:00 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
oh, jenny! i'm so glad you can laugh about his "not percy" conversations. i can't tell you how many preschool times are cut short with hannah when i tell her, "this is lower case c" and she replies, "no it's not that's a d" it will continue that way until i say, "you need to learn this for school, and arguing is not learning" and she replies, "well you are arguing with me" and although she is right it never goes well to bite the hand that feeds you, if you know what i mean. if only i could laugh it off like you all! such a better way to handle it!
He's hilarious! Don't you love to listen to them talk when they play alone?!
Brian has that exact same shirt.
I think you should start calling the train "not, not percy."
Sarah, I can laugh about this one, because at the end of the day, I really don't care what he calls his trains. Letters, that might be another story :) He and Frankie do have an ongoing conversation where she tells him something is one color, and he insists (wrongly) that it's another. I've been trying to help Frankie let these kinds of conversations go - we just can't take Dex that seriously!
And Heather, I'm not surprised Brian has the same shirt, even though Chris bought it for him in Dublin!
Yeah, I was wondering about the shirt; Colin's mom brought it from across the pond too!
Jenny, this is hysterical! My little nephew Jackson is so obsessed with Thomas and trains, in general, he has taken to sleeping with the DVD Case for the Thomas and Friends Xmas Special. No joke. Todd even got him a really boring documentary from the 1970s on trains in West Virginia that he remains GLUED to constantly. Ah, little boys....
I think it's so funny that the trains are so obviously labeled for the parents' benefit. The kids know the names by heart.
Pam, you're right! Those trains are totally labeled for me.
Post a Comment