Can a 3 year old pretend to be ill?

[mrsgboring]

DH has a cold, I am pregnant and feel ill with it. DS, as far as we know, is fine. At the dinner table this evening, DH told him we could all go to Ikea tomorrow, "provided we were all well enough."

DS responded "I'm the only one who's ill." "Oh darling, are you feeling poorly?" we said. "What's wrong?" At which DS gave the most pathetic fake cough imaginable (just a very very faint clearing of throat) and then sat and looked innocent. We explained neither daddy nor mummy was feeling well, and why. "Oh" he said in a slightly surprised way, "So it's all of us then." Cue more sympathetic noises from parents and the same ridiculous, very faint fake cough. Cough not heard again this evening and he does seem to be fine.

So is he making it up, or are we heartless parents for not believing our poor sick son? He has only just turned 3 btw.

Sounds like he's making it up, because by doing so he is being like you. They're clever, y'know!

When dd was 3 her keyworker at pre-school came to me slightly worried and puzzled about the fact that she seemed to groan a lot whenever she got up from sitting on the floor, seemed to struggle a bit, yet was absolutely fine at other times. I had to explain that she was imitating me - I was 6m pg at the time, with back trouble, knee trouble, SPD etc etc. I didn't exactly leap up lightly from floor-level!

I should say normally when he's making stuff up he's liberal with details and incidental colour. Just a cough and then silence is weird for him.

Oh that's funny, PrettyCandles. That'll be us soon then.

Oh he's making it up

I have had horrendous sickness with this pregnancy (puking every morning) and every morning dd (2.10) comes in and coughs over toilet and tells me she has been sick but feels better

They are very clever

he can do it. dd 3.5 did once.
she was poorly one day, grand parents came over cooed and ooed all the time while. keep telling her how poorly she was and he she looked pale and on and on.
a few days later dd told me she was not feeling well, and said "look at me mummy im so pale and i feel not very well"
it was hilarious, the way she tried to look ill. and the way she said it. she was just over 3yrs old.

oh they can make it up at that age.

At a similar age DS2 scared the life out of half the congregation. It was 5 minutes before the service started, I was already playing the organ, he was running up and down the (hard stone/tiled floor) aisle at the other side of the church (not the middle of the church). He slipped and appeared to bump his head (I couldn't see this).

Looked up from my music to see worried faces gathering around "something" on the floor - they looked at me and I stopped mid piece and dashed over to him.

He looked like he was out cold, totally still and realistically floppy when you moved his arm/leg/whatever.

However, something inside me told me that he was fine and was acting (though none of the worried onlookers believed me at the time). So I tickled him, at first there was no reaction, but after about 10-15 seconds I saw a tinu half smile on his face - then back to the straight face again.

I picked him up and cuddled him and he then opened his eyes, peered around at everyone...........and asked if he could come and sit next to the organ with me .

There was sod all wrong with him but he convinced people that he was !

Even now (at nearly 5) he's still amazingly good at playing that sort of game.

Thank you all. I really was 99.9% certain he was making it up, but think of the guilt if I'd disbelieved a genuinely ill child!

It was very funny though.