DD insisting on being called another name- With a reminder every two seconds. Driving me insane!

[Barney10]

DD(4) has, for a long time, enjoyed role-playing her heros from various films (mostly boy characters, but that's not a problem!).

The problem is she spends the WHOLE TIME reminding us who she is and it's MINDBENDING!

Example: 'Mummy, I'm Simon today. Can I be Simon today? Mummy I'm Simon today.' Me: --, put your shoes on please. ' I'm Simon Mummy, I'm Simon. Can you call me Simon Mummy?'. Two seconds later. ' Mummy, I'm Simon Mummy'. This goes on all day.

She changes character from day to day.

Has anyone else experienced this? I wondered if it might be an attention-seeking device; a sort of 'checking-in' with Mummy, as it appears more frequent when I'm busy with DS(6m). (either it's more frequent or more annoying as I'm trying to concentrate on something at the same time!).

Does anyone have any ideas how to manage it? I know it doesn't sound like much but it's such a wind up and at the end of a long and busy day today, I've just shouted at her which I feel dreadful about, as she's not being naughty as such.

[theboneperson]

I have the same thing from my dd, aged 4. She met an older girl called Willow some time ago, and now, just lately, every morning she announces that she's Willow, and she's 10, and then runs through the conversation that we have to have. If I don't get it right, we have to do it again, and again, and again, and again, ad infinitum.

It is bloody annoying, but presumably it's a phase that will pass. Can't imagine her being Willow, who's 10, when she's 25 I guess.

[Olympicnmix]

Give her a plain sticky label, write 'Simon' on it and decorate it. Play along, "I can see who you are. Can Simon swoop in, save the day and get ds a nappy and some wipes please..."

She sounds like she has a great imagination Does she have a dressing up box?

[CaptainHetty]

I don't have any advice but my 3 and a half year old girl is the same, so you're not alone. Today we're called Amy, we get Ben a lot, and also Kip. Also had a phase of being called Honey... Her name is actually Jessica!

[Olympicnmix]

Sorry, she decorates the label.

[iklboo]

'I'm not mummy. I'm Lady Jemima Fortescue-Smyth'

[iklboo]

Sorry pressed send too soon. DS went through a phase of being 'William', 'George' or 'Steve'.

[radicalsubstitution]

Ha ha, this really reminded me of an incident when DS was 4.

For a reason that became clear a few weeks later, DS decided that he wanted to be called Gordon. He went on and on about it, but we just dismissed it. It turns out that the reason was because Gordon in the annoying train series is number 4.

Anyway we went on holiday and, to cut a long story short, DS got lost coming out of some loos at an attraction. Naturally, frantic, we did the usual panicked running around asking everyone if they'd seen a lost boy. One man very helpfully said yes, then asked 'is his name Gordon, he's round there'. Poor man didn't quite understnad why DH and I burst into laughter.

On the way back to our holiday park we explained to DS the importance of telling people the truth etc etc. All very well. That night, DS decised to enter the fancy dress competition. When asked his name by the host, he immediately pipes up 'Gordon'.

I just hope no-one thought we named him after Gordon Brown.

[Barney10]

Hahaha..good to know we're not alone. You all seem to have maintained a sense of humour about it at least!

Will try that one iklboo.

Yes, she has a dressing up box but will definitely try the sticker idea; it might remind me who I'm talking to as well! Perhaps Lady Fortesque could have one too!

This coinciding with verbal diahorrea(? Could never spell that) I just wish we could turn her off for a bit from time to time! At least she's still talking to us I suppose, might actually mourn this when she's 13!

[ButtonBoo]

My nephew has been Buzz Lightyear, Captain Hook, Peter Pan and William Tell (god knows where he got that one from) all within the space of 2-3 weeks. He won't answer to his real name so you have to figure out which one he's being each day!

[PedanticPanda]

My 5 yr old ds told teachers in his school (not his class teacher but other teachers he'd meet in the corridor, and those that worked in the lunch hall and office) that his name was David. They all believed him and had been calling him that for a few months until one day I was in his school and shouted "by minipedantic" infront of confused staff - cue ds running away giggling his head off leaving me to explain that he likes to wind people up.

Ds's name is nothing like David either so he'd cleary just made it up, there was no mishearing of his actual name.

[confuddledDOTcom]

My middle daughter is randomly a boy and you get criticised for getting it wrong.

Daddy: Goodnight Daddy's little girls
DD: BOY!

Daddy: Come on Daddy's little boy, time to get out the car.
DD: GIRL! Silly billy Daddy! (meets Nanny a few minutes later) Nanny, Daddy silly billy, Daddy said I boy!

Not even one day boy, one day girl.

[missorinoco]

DS was Peppa for a while. Baby DD had to be called George; the phase persisted for so long she even responded to George! I didn't enjoy having to be Mummy Pig. Would have preferred Lady Fortescue.

Like the label idea. "Who are you today, DD?"

[yawningbear]

I have spent all day, and I mean, all day, being Alice, DD of course gets to be Angelina, though makes a nice change from being Daddy, with DD as Mummy, have been getting some odd looks out and about as DD constantly refers to me, very loudly, as Daddy. Sometimes she is Peso, though not just Peso, Mummy Peso, I am usually assigned role of Tweak, Kwazi if I am lucky, and poor old DS is Tunip

[letsgomaths]

I'm laughing my head off remembering a story from the 1980s "The Boy who would Not say his Name". He was a different character from one day to the next, be it Peter Rabbit, or the Big Bad Wolf.

One day he got lost in a big department store, and told a shop assistant he was Rumpelstiltskin. "Mrs Stiltskin," said the helpful lady over the loudspeaker, "please come to customer services to pick up your little boy, Rumpel."

He did not tell his real name until a policeman said to him at the station: "The Stiltskin family is not in the telephone book". Thereafter, although he still liked pretending to be other characters, whenever anyone asked what his name was, he always said "Bobby Brown".

[letsgomaths]

Oops, actually 1950s, looking it up.

[StopTalkingAndEatYourDinner]

my 4 year old DS was called Annabelle for a while. I quite liked it.

When DD was 4 she was like a dog with a bone on whatever her topic of the day was, just went on and on and on and on. Very wearying but just a phase and all that.

Wine helps, as does bedtime

[DeWe]

Ds was a dog called Poppy for a long time. I drew the line at feeding him in the dog bowl he bought with his pocketmoney though

[thixotropic]

Hmm

I distinctly remember being about 4 and deciding I was a newsreader (not saying who, it will out me totally)

Would only answer to that name. For weeks. Drove my mum nuts.

I think it probably came out of some kind of Desire to explore my sense of identity or something.

40 yrs later, my family still take the piss

[PopMusicShoobyDoobyDoA]

My DS insisted on being a character from a Cbeebies show (I won't say which because it'll compromise my anonymity). Fair enough. But then he stopped calling us mummy and daddy and used two other character names from the same show. This started in Feb and he is only just beginning to start calling us mummy and daddy again. It feels a bit weird to hear him call us that now, tbh.

He now insists that he is a cat, who kills mice and eats lasagne (like Garfield). Every time I ask him, would you like fish fingers/bananas etc he says he wants lasagne. I wouldn't mind but he doesn't even like lasagne.

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

It is the only answer.

I'm not as patient with this as some of you are! I'll put up with it for a little while, but eventually I snap.

[InSPsFanjoNoOneHearsYouScream]

I have a 2.11 year old and he likes to be called Jet when he is in dog mode. I have to tap my knees while calling him. No matter where I am!

He sometimes tells me he is called mum. This happens at bedtime mainly. He's realised that mum puts him to bed so if he's mum then it can't happen. It's logical

My littke brother (1.6) will only answer to fatty.

[skyebluesapphire]

My DD (4yo) is currently called DD Kitten. So she will not answer to DD, she only answers to DD Kitten. Then she crawls around the floor and licks her hand and wipes her face.

She doesnt do this all the time, just when she feels like it...