I’ve written countless times about how much my son Brandon loves Peter Pan. He spends most of his time wearing his Peter Pan or newly acquired Captain Hook costumes, playing with Peter Pan and pirate toys, talking about Peter Pan, drawing pictures of Peter Pan, reciting lines from the movie…you get the drift.
I think his love has gone into an obsession because now we are having problems with him related to Peter Pan. He has been refusing to go to preschool, day care, or his little tumbling class and I am 99% sure it is because he doesn’t want to leave his Peter Pan toys. He wants to be with his Peter Pan stuff 24/7. When we are away from home he is worried about his toys and costumes and desperately want to get home to them. This morning, my mild-mannered boy became enraged when I told him he could not take his costume to daycare.
I’ve read different articles on the matter, and they all say to just go with the obsession and that these roll playing adventures are creative and wonderful. I adore Brandon’s love for all things Peter Pan, but I feel like perhaps his obsession has gone too far. It is starting to impact his ability to go to school and live life outside of our house. What have been your experiences? Help!
I’ll check with the experts and get back to you.
When my middle son was about 4, he dressed up all the time and was deeply lost in his imagination, always in character. He was either Link (Legend of Zelda), Buzz Lightyear or George of the Jungle. I was a SAHM though so it wasn’t ever a problem going out. I let him wear the Buzz and Link costumes where ever he wanted, but had to draw the line with George.
BTW…he’s 16 now and seems to be just fine. 😉 Good luck to you and your Peter.
My daughter was the same way with Cinderella (and still is to some degree). She was a lot like your son sounds, we couldn’t get her to do anything not Cinderella related. In fact, she would get in trouble at school because she would get upset if the other kids didn’t want to play Cinderella with her. We gradually started taking it away and using it only as rewards, i.e. “we are going to play tennis and paint a picture, then you can play Cinderella”. It took a while and there were a few major meltdowns, but it has dramatically improved. Good luck!
Disclaimer – my comments are colored by my world. As Mom to autistic sons. I don’t know what normal is!
However, having said that….narrowly restricted interests and inflexibility ARE markers for autism spectrum disorders. If this has been going on for several months and to the exclusion of all else, you might want to speak to someone, just to rule it out. There is a phone screening that you can do to decide if further investigation is warranted.
I’m not trying to worry you, but one of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t follow up on the warning signs with my own kids. I kept dismissing things as “just a phase” or “that’s just how DS is…”
Being that my kids are grown and out in the big world. This post gave me a good chuckle. My first thought was, He doesn’t want to grow up. My second thought was, Peter Pan never had a better fan. Having all of my kids wear “stuff” out in the world, made me realize as a Mom that to them there is no difference between worlds. But believe me it a sad day, when they do realize that maybe they shouldn’t wear that petticoat, or cape around town. Just try to enjoy the moment. It really doesn’t last long.