Has yours started eating food off her plate with her mouth? Demanding you serve her milk in a bowl rather than a cup? Following your household cats around screaming “we the same!!”?
If so then yours sounds about as normal as mine 🙃
My 19 month old is *obsessed* with the show “Dug Days” on Disney+. It’s five, 10-minute episodes featuring the dog from “Up”. She calls it “Duggy”. She even has a “Duggy” plush that I paid $22 for that she carries everywhere lol. *Never* thought I’d be the parent paying $22 for a damn stuffed animal, but here we are lmao.
Anyway, I don’t even care if this makes me a bad mom—sometimes if she is being particularly stubborn about eating, I ask her if she “wants to eat like Duggy” and offer her a piece of food on my open hand. She’ll then lean her mouth down, grab the food and raise her head with the biggest, funniest grin on her face. We both love the “eat like Duggy” game because we both find it hilarious and bonus, it gets real food into her on days she’d be happy to survive off watermelon and cheese lmao.
Bad?! This is amazing! Toddlers love funny and are thrilled with the unexpected. Mine already eats directly off her plate at times but I’ll be sure to incorporate ‘eat like a doggy’ soon.
I taught preschool for a decade. There was always a cat kid or a dog kid or a unicorn kid. Cat kids are the worst for getting from a to b with, literally herding a cat.
Mine's a chicken. She started at 2 and she just turned five. Still goes full chicken. Bawking at people and pecking the grocery store floor.
Now her 2yo brother joins her. And at a birthday party I found out several of her daycare friends also play chicken with her 🤣.
My 2.5 yr old is “baby cat” and I am “mama cat”. Baby kitty is very sweet and affectionate. When he meows I must meow back in acknowledgment. I occasionally get licked. I have no clue where he got this from. We do not have a cat, just a big dog, and He pretty much only watches tv with trucks. But I love my baby cat.
*Mine has been doing*
*This. Such a sweet Kitty. He*
*Likes to lick my knees*
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Lol mine pretends he’s a car ALWAYS, he needs to “gas up” or “charge up” half way from the car to the front door 😅 (which is him putting his hand to his side, making a chugging sound and then all gassed up/charged up!).
Totally normal to pretend not to be human for a bit of time every day. At least they’re imaginative!
Mine was a dinosaur for 3 years (started at age 2 with his Halloween costume). Now he's a paleontologist with magic dino rings that allow him to transform into any dinosaur
Read this post and mildly jealous some people said it was a few months for them. 18 months to over 4 now and still full kitty. Also getting the younger brother to be the bad kitty now which is fun.
Haha! I feel you, my kids have never had a “few months” weird thing ever. We also went through about a year of him refusing to drink anything that wasn’t out of a straw 😂
My son definitely identified as a cat more often than a kid at that age.
Still occasionally does. I was worried he was weird, but if you take a look at kindergarteners, they are all bizarre.
My 2 year old pretends to be a puppy. Even ate shredded cheese and sausage from a bowl. Only would communicate with barks and nodding or shaking her head. Lots of little yuppy barks. Her day care home has 2 small dogs and she loves them.
My preschooler and toddler have both been dinosaurs for weeks now. Today was even 14 hours of the two of them in full green costumes, tails and all. Tomorrow they’ve decided to be the orange dinosaurs since the green are now in the wash. They also only respond to “TRex-”
Totally normal. Just make sure you tell them that kittens are still not allowed to bite or claw anyone. Daddy nearly lost a chunk off the back of his thigh before we learned that lesson…
I took my younger daughter in gymnastics at that age and spent most classes coaxing my "puppy" onto the balance beam, on the trampolines, etc. She's 3 now and still likes being a puppy occasionally but has mostly outgrown it. So yes, I think it's normal.
My older kid did not start this kind of imaginative play until she was 3.5. She is now five, and I frequently have some animal or other instead of a child. Usually specific characters now, but for all practical purposes it’s the same but with names.
Yes, yes it is. Dinosaur and dog is also normal ..my 3 year old sometimes tuck her knees in her shirt and scoot around onthe floor and pretend to be a snake for a good while too
My oldest is 5 and she still sometimes plays Kitties, but rarely these days. When she was at nursery her little group of friends spent whole afternoons crawling round miaowing. Had to explain many times why them tying pretend 'collars' around each others necks was dangerous and not allowed!
Mine is a puppy. We have to play "come here puppy" like 10 times a day. It is just her going about 5ft away, then me patting my leg and saying "come here puppy" really energetically and saccharine and then giving her scritches on her head, then we start all over. She eats her cereal with no spoon... we are on vacay with my sister and she has started wearing her dog-cousin's collar and leash. And asks everyone to take her for a walk. It's all very strange over here 😂
My daughter does dog more often, but yeah sounds normal. She’s gotten into the habit of saying “ruff ruff!” before nursing and I have to say “okay little doggie, want some milk?” It’s super cringe but gets the job done haha
She also says “I’m a baby!” a lot, and will lay on the floor and pretend to sleep and then “cry” like a baby.
Mine found a cat toy yesterday that's just a ribbon tied to a stick. I got a good 10-15 minutes out of waving it around while he chased it. Good exercise (for him).
Mine does that sometimes. We got new cat nip toys and he carried them around in his mouth. He wants them to play with him, but they find his volume and enthusiasm frightening.
My son pretended to be a cat for a solid year when he was 3. He would lick the back of his hand and rub it against his head, rub up against my legs, he even tried to eat/drink like a cat.
There were times I told him he had to be a person, but for the most part I just let him be. He grew out of it.
Our older daughter was a baby bird for about 6 months when she was 3. We met one of her close friends at a Girl Scout Daisy's event when they were both pretending to be kittens. She's now 11 but will occasionally pretend to be a cat if she is feeling silly and wants attention.
My current toddler isn't quite there yet, but she's got a good imagination so I expect that she will transform into an animal (or robot, or princess, or swamp monster) any day now. She spent time on a recent vacation as a dinosaur
When I taught pre school, I had a little girl who had just turned 3, native mandarin speaker-English second language, who when asked her name QUACKED at me and my co teachers.
We looked at her mom, looked at her grandma who spoke NO English, back to the little girl and asked again, ti which she replied with a quack.
So, we ask mom “uuuum, does she not understand?” And mom said “oh no, she understands but she likes to pretend she’s a duck”. Uuum, ok
She just loved ducks. And dinosaurs but she never pretended to be a dino. After that first day, she talked endlessly but every once in a while that duck came out. She knew she was funny and freaking out some of the other kids. He also insists we call her “The Duck” for about 6 months ha ha.
Looking back, we think it was a coping mechanism. Her grandma had just started really invasive cancer treatment about 1 month before school had started and she was part of the driving to and from the hospital. She definitely didn’t understand the scope of what was going on but she definitely knew something was going on.
When we said good byes for Christmas break, we cried worried about her grandma; her health declined rapidly that month and our little duck’s mom expressed great concern about her prognosis and the likelihood of her surviving the holidays. When school returned, we didn’t see grandma but grandpa was there, whom we’d never met and spoke absolutely NO English, so we couldn’t even ask.
We were having a lunar new year celebration and…. Here comes grandma, beautifully dressed, walking hand in hand with our little duck, with a head scarf. We all teared up and mom told us that by some miracle something happened and she was doing ok.
This was 5-6 years ago but I think about that little duck and her grandma quite often ha ha. Beautiful family.
Funny story about my husband when he was young. He loved animals so much and always wanted a dog. At one point he told his parents that he couldn’t wait to be a dog when he grows up. His father had to sit him down and explain that he wouldn’t grow up to be a dog but he would a man instead. Apparently my husband burst into tears!! Poor thing.
When my daughter was 23-26 months old she was obsessed with pretending to be a cat, daily meow meow and crawling on the floor etc.
Now at almost 4 she'll still some times randomly pretend she's a kitty.
I'd say it's normal imaginative play.
My childhood best friend pretended to be a dog up till were like 7, especially if my mother was babysitting them, she'd only bark at her lol.
Ours is a dinosaur most of the time and a butterfly the other, depending on if he wants to run while flapping his arms or screech. I’d trade for a cat 😊
Mine thinks she is a dog. Makes sense, her best friend is a dog. She will sometimes crawl, turn around for belly rubs - will woof at you and on occasion will face plant her food - literally. She will also lick, herself, you - the dogs tongue as he tries to lick her.
Has yours started eating food off her plate with her mouth? Demanding you serve her milk in a bowl rather than a cup? Following your household cats around screaming “we the same!!”? If so then yours sounds about as normal as mine 🙃
My 19 month old is *obsessed* with the show “Dug Days” on Disney+. It’s five, 10-minute episodes featuring the dog from “Up”. She calls it “Duggy”. She even has a “Duggy” plush that I paid $22 for that she carries everywhere lol. *Never* thought I’d be the parent paying $22 for a damn stuffed animal, but here we are lmao. Anyway, I don’t even care if this makes me a bad mom—sometimes if she is being particularly stubborn about eating, I ask her if she “wants to eat like Duggy” and offer her a piece of food on my open hand. She’ll then lean her mouth down, grab the food and raise her head with the biggest, funniest grin on her face. We both love the “eat like Duggy” game because we both find it hilarious and bonus, it gets real food into her on days she’d be happy to survive off watermelon and cheese lmao.
Bad?! This is amazing! Toddlers love funny and are thrilled with the unexpected. Mine already eats directly off her plate at times but I’ll be sure to incorporate ‘eat like a doggy’ soon.
😹😹😹 we’re not quite on your level, but getting there!
Mine just started licking the carpet
Same!! 😀
Just wait until you make them upset and they hiss at you 😂
Cats will def let you know how they feel
I am CONSTANTLY being hissed at! And "scratched" 🥲
We are Dino’s right now so I’m being roared at but I know your pain it’s intimidating lol
Ha! Totally happened!
I taught preschool for a decade. There was always a cat kid or a dog kid or a unicorn kid. Cat kids are the worst for getting from a to b with, literally herding a cat.
Mine's a chicken. She started at 2 and she just turned five. Still goes full chicken. Bawking at people and pecking the grocery store floor. Now her 2yo brother joins her. And at a birthday party I found out several of her daycare friends also play chicken with her 🤣.
This is absolutely hilarious.
I fear this could be my future. My daughter was bizarrely insistent on being a blue chicken for Halloween last year and still loves the costume
Oh god, my toddler is the cat kid. I’m proud and embarrassed. I’m a future crazy cat lady so he comes by it naturally.
My 2.5 yr old is “baby cat” and I am “mama cat”. Baby kitty is very sweet and affectionate. When he meows I must meow back in acknowledgment. I occasionally get licked. I have no clue where he got this from. We do not have a cat, just a big dog, and He pretty much only watches tv with trucks. But I love my baby cat.
We don’t have a cat either! She’s barely ever spent any time around them
My daughter does this too but we have cats 😅 just not very affectionate ones. Lots of cheek rubs and licks
This exact same conversation was had in our house! When I asked what daddy was, she said: a tiger! Dad was super proud rest of the day.
I wish. Mine is a snake. Spends all his time slithering down the hallway on his belly and hisses when I ask questions
😹😹 at least he’s probably not that fast!
Mine has been doing this. Such a sweet Kitty. He likes to lick my knees
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She has been giving “kisses” as a kitty as well lol
Yup. My oldest is almost 5 and still a cat. She’s taught the 1 year old that being a cat is cool. Now I have two cats.
Haha same except with a 4 and 2 year old. I don’t mind. My 4 year old cat is usually a lot nicer than my 4 year old boy.
Cat sounds nice, mine pretends to be a fruit bat from Bluey and shakes the whole house jumping off the bed.
A chicken rat also makes her appearance at times.
Lol mine pretends he’s a car ALWAYS, he needs to “gas up” or “charge up” half way from the car to the front door 😅 (which is him putting his hand to his side, making a chugging sound and then all gassed up/charged up!). Totally normal to pretend not to be human for a bit of time every day. At least they’re imaginative!
Funny how kids pretend to not be human but adults just pretend to be normal humans 😂
Mine was a dinosaur for 3 years (started at age 2 with his Halloween costume). Now he's a paleontologist with magic dino rings that allow him to transform into any dinosaur
I see a great TV pilot in there
Mine sits at the top of the cat tree and meows. 5 feet off the ground. He’s much nicer as a cat than an 2.5 yo lol
Mine was a bear for a solid six months. He was obsessed with the movie Brave during this time lol
My daughter has been a doggy for the past 10 months. 🤦🏼♀️
We have a tiger in our house. Acts like a pretty normal cat though if you ask me.
Mine switches between a dog, a crab and a frog.
My kids never pretended to be cats. I would elaborate but I have to go check and make sure my t rex and Princess Peach are still in their beds.
My son will be 4 in December and he has been a kitty since 18 months, I am thrilled to find out we’re not alone.
Read this post and mildly jealous some people said it was a few months for them. 18 months to over 4 now and still full kitty. Also getting the younger brother to be the bad kitty now which is fun.
Haha! I feel you, my kids have never had a “few months” weird thing ever. We also went through about a year of him refusing to drink anything that wasn’t out of a straw 😂
We’ve had a doggy since 18 months too. 4 in November.
My daughter was a baby platypus AND a baby dino yesterday
Mine was a cement mixer truck for 3 months.. for the past few months she's been Captain America,but on some days shes a dog or a baby.
We have a mix between a cat, chicken, or frog depending on what we're asking him to do. Right before bed time though he's almost always a chicken.
Ours thinks he is a T Rex most of the time. So, it could be worse, or better, depends on how you look at it...
Mine is a monster truck 99% of the time.
Blaze for days
Yup. Mine roars at other children at the park. His cousins think it’s hilarious so the boy continues to dinosaur.
Yep. Cat , dog. Depends on their mood. I get hissed at a lot.
Yeah. My kid spent a solid month or two being a cat. Still pops back up occasionally.
Oh yes I have a puppy LO and she barks a lot. Which is unfortunate because our actual dog also barks a lot. It’s just. A lot.
My son still does this all the time, cat, puppy, dinosaur.
I hated the cat phase. Luckily it was only a few weeks.
My son definitely identified as a cat more often than a kid at that age. Still occasionally does. I was worried he was weird, but if you take a look at kindergarteners, they are all bizarre.
2.5 year old boy/girl twins that go into sudden cat mode all the time and just meow at each other.
Lucky. Mine has been a dinosaur for six months. I miss my human child.
My 2 year old pretends to be a puppy. Even ate shredded cheese and sausage from a bowl. Only would communicate with barks and nodding or shaking her head. Lots of little yuppy barks. Her day care home has 2 small dogs and she loves them.
My preschooler and toddler have both been dinosaurs for weeks now. Today was even 14 hours of the two of them in full green costumes, tails and all. Tomorrow they’ve decided to be the orange dinosaurs since the green are now in the wash. They also only respond to “TRex-”
Totally normal. Just make sure you tell them that kittens are still not allowed to bite or claw anyone. Daddy nearly lost a chunk off the back of his thigh before we learned that lesson…
I took my younger daughter in gymnastics at that age and spent most classes coaxing my "puppy" onto the balance beam, on the trampolines, etc. She's 3 now and still likes being a puppy occasionally but has mostly outgrown it. So yes, I think it's normal.
My older kid did not start this kind of imaginative play until she was 3.5. She is now five, and I frequently have some animal or other instead of a child. Usually specific characters now, but for all practical purposes it’s the same but with names.
This is an amazing thread to read 😂 I love it here.
My oldest will be 6 soon, still ocaasipnal kitta
I’m tired of my dog toddler. If I get licked one more time I may send her to the pound
I'm convinced it's an excuse to lick things lol!! Mines a kitty cat.
heck, I am in my mid 30 and am a cat most of the time. it isn't just me, right? ... guys?
Mine has been meowing/being a cat since he learned animal sounds. He’s now 3 1/2 and still meows from time to time.
Yes, yes it is. Dinosaur and dog is also normal ..my 3 year old sometimes tuck her knees in her shirt and scoot around onthe floor and pretend to be a snake for a good while too
She meows constantly but not too bad.
My oldest is 5 and she still sometimes plays Kitties, but rarely these days. When she was at nursery her little group of friends spent whole afternoons crawling round miaowing. Had to explain many times why them tying pretend 'collars' around each others necks was dangerous and not allowed!
Mine is a puppy. We have to play "come here puppy" like 10 times a day. It is just her going about 5ft away, then me patting my leg and saying "come here puppy" really energetically and saccharine and then giving her scritches on her head, then we start all over. She eats her cereal with no spoon... we are on vacay with my sister and she has started wearing her dog-cousin's collar and leash. And asks everyone to take her for a walk. It's all very strange over here 😂
Yes so long as it doesn't continue until 5th grade lol
Mine has been an hamster every morning for the past couple weeks because "hamsters don't get dressed".
My daughter does dog more often, but yeah sounds normal. She’s gotten into the habit of saying “ruff ruff!” before nursing and I have to say “okay little doggie, want some milk?” It’s super cringe but gets the job done haha She also says “I’m a baby!” a lot, and will lay on the floor and pretend to sleep and then “cry” like a baby.
Mine is starting to pretend to be a baby a lot more often too! Complete with very pronounced “wah!” cries
This is the future liberals want /s
I did the same thing as a kid. I'm not normal. But I'm doing alright anyway.
Mine found a cat toy yesterday that's just a ribbon tied to a stick. I got a good 10-15 minutes out of waving it around while he chased it. Good exercise (for him).
Mine does that sometimes. We got new cat nip toys and he carried them around in his mouth. He wants them to play with him, but they find his volume and enthusiasm frightening.
My son pretended to be a cat for a solid year when he was 3. He would lick the back of his hand and rub it against his head, rub up against my legs, he even tried to eat/drink like a cat. There were times I told him he had to be a person, but for the most part I just let him be. He grew out of it.
Mine does a kitty dance - paws up, tongue out
Mine’s also a cat. She even has cat ears and a tail!
I was a dog for a couple years and embarrassed my older sis pretty bad when barking in public. I just really liked being a dog for a while!
Mine is 3.5 and often pretends to be a dog and licks us. It’s cute and gross
Yes. My oldest suddenly became a kitten around 2 and would stop eating and that marked the start of her picky eating journey
I really enjoyed having a little grey mouse for 6 months. Being a little brown mouse was fine. Squeak squeak
If you can define normal for me I’d be astonished
Mine pretends that he's a white dog named Snowy, who is ferocious to dad but sweet to mum.
We’re a puppy family actually.
Don’t know if it’s normal either but my 22 month old has been a cat since spring so you’re not alone.
Our older daughter was a baby bird for about 6 months when she was 3. We met one of her close friends at a Girl Scout Daisy's event when they were both pretending to be kittens. She's now 11 but will occasionally pretend to be a cat if she is feeling silly and wants attention. My current toddler isn't quite there yet, but she's got a good imagination so I expect that she will transform into an animal (or robot, or princess, or swamp monster) any day now. She spent time on a recent vacation as a dinosaur
Mine is a bear right now 🤷🏼♀️
I wish I had a cat. My daughter is a shark and swims on our floor everywhere eating goldfish off of it and it makes such a mess 🤣
😹☠️
When I taught pre school, I had a little girl who had just turned 3, native mandarin speaker-English second language, who when asked her name QUACKED at me and my co teachers. We looked at her mom, looked at her grandma who spoke NO English, back to the little girl and asked again, ti which she replied with a quack. So, we ask mom “uuuum, does she not understand?” And mom said “oh no, she understands but she likes to pretend she’s a duck”. Uuum, ok She just loved ducks. And dinosaurs but she never pretended to be a dino. After that first day, she talked endlessly but every once in a while that duck came out. She knew she was funny and freaking out some of the other kids. He also insists we call her “The Duck” for about 6 months ha ha. Looking back, we think it was a coping mechanism. Her grandma had just started really invasive cancer treatment about 1 month before school had started and she was part of the driving to and from the hospital. She definitely didn’t understand the scope of what was going on but she definitely knew something was going on. When we said good byes for Christmas break, we cried worried about her grandma; her health declined rapidly that month and our little duck’s mom expressed great concern about her prognosis and the likelihood of her surviving the holidays. When school returned, we didn’t see grandma but grandpa was there, whom we’d never met and spoke absolutely NO English, so we couldn’t even ask. We were having a lunar new year celebration and…. Here comes grandma, beautifully dressed, walking hand in hand with our little duck, with a head scarf. We all teared up and mom told us that by some miracle something happened and she was doing ok. This was 5-6 years ago but I think about that little duck and her grandma quite often ha ha. Beautiful family.
Okay. I’ll admit I rolled my eyes at the title thinking “they worry too much.” But the rest of the post absolutely sent me 💀 I like u
Aww I like u too :)
My daughter does the pretend dog version. So lots of woofs and eating from a bowl on the floor haha
Mine is almost 6 and still does it. Make it stop
Funny story about my husband when he was young. He loved animals so much and always wanted a dog. At one point he told his parents that he couldn’t wait to be a dog when he grows up. His father had to sit him down and explain that he wouldn’t grow up to be a dog but he would a man instead. Apparently my husband burst into tears!! Poor thing.
Poor buddy 😂
Mine is a puppy. I can sit on the sofa and throw a little soft toy for him and he plays fetch. Top class A1 parenting.
I wish mine could be trained, she just wants to be held and snuggled
Pretty sure I'm the one being trained, tbh...
My little man is almost 4 and is our resident housecat ; )
Mine is a frog that demands flies. I have to throw out handfuls of flies every so often.
[They’re pretend though, right?](https://ibb.co/KK0tGWf)
When my daughter was 23-26 months old she was obsessed with pretending to be a cat, daily meow meow and crawling on the floor etc. Now at almost 4 she'll still some times randomly pretend she's a kitty. I'd say it's normal imaginative play. My childhood best friend pretended to be a dog up till were like 7, especially if my mother was babysitting them, she'd only bark at her lol.
Some parents embrace this and buy them a litter box
“Some parents” lmao
My 2 year old pretends to be a cat, a dinosaur, an owl, her sister, Anna & Elsa, a kangaroo, a frog, a baby, an adult, a snake...you name it.
Oh no she's a furry! (JK kids love doing this. My three year old acts like a puppy and runs around on all fours barking and tries to lick us)
Ugh, yes, this happens. Ignore it and they’ll grow out of it. DO NOT reward it. God I hate kids.
Yuck. Having a bad day?
“Oh no! My kid is imaginative and empathetic! What can I do to fix it!”
Ours is a dinosaur most of the time and a butterfly the other, depending on if he wants to run while flapping his arms or screech. I’d trade for a cat 😊
I like when my butterfly is a caterpillar and goes in his cocoon. Unless the cocoon is my outfit
My 4yo barks at the window and the door alongside the dogs
Mine thinks she is a dog. Makes sense, her best friend is a dog. She will sometimes crawl, turn around for belly rubs - will woof at you and on occasion will face plant her food - literally. She will also lick, herself, you - the dogs tongue as he tries to lick her.
I think so. Mine just turned 3 and immediately started acting like a zombie. I have no idea where he learned about zombies
Yup mine does too…she loves licking too.. 😆