Naughty Mrowser

Most the time, when Bree is playing pretend I think it's kind of cute and also fairly informational about the inner workings of her mind. Quite often she gets totally sucked into her pretend scenarios as she reenacts things that have happened or acts out scenes more like the way she would like them to go if she were in charge. All in all, it's a very normal phase and I suppose, in a way, good therapy for her to work things out.

Sometimes I even get in on the act. As I've mentioned, sometimes I get to be Dr. Mommy but more often lately I'm the "honey" and Bree is my "mommy." Which, can get a little confusing for her. She'll go, "Hey Mom... I mean Honey..." So I don't really mind all the pretend friends and so on.

BUT, I do have to say there is one pretend game I hate and that is when she plays "Mrowser." Mrowser is both the name of her stuffed cat (aka the cat formerly known as Motorcycle and before that was known as Motorhead) and is also the name Bree goes by when she's pretending to be a cat herself. Apparently this Mrowser character is quite naughty and if I could, I'd get rid of it/him/her. First of all, when Brianna is Mrowser she refuses to speak to me most the time because, cats don't talk. It's perfectly logical but completely maddening!

Take for example when Bree/Mrowser wants a snack. She'll stand by the pantry and meow and scratch at the door. So then I go open the pantry door and start to pull out some crackers. "Meow" says Mrowser and shakes her head. So, I go to grab the raisins. "Meow" says Mrowser and shakes her head again. Next I try a rice cake "Meow" says Mrowser, and in a high fake voice, "I want toast!" "Okay, fine." I say and I pop a slice of bread into the toaster. Once the toast is out I say,
"Brianna do you want butter?"
The kid/cat just looks at me.
"Do you want butter on it?" I ask again.
The kid/cat is still just staring at me.
"HEY! Do you want butter!" I ask a little louder.
(In a high voice.) "I'm NOT Branna, I'm Mrowser!"
"Okay, fine, Mrowser, would you like butter on your toast?"
"Meow!"
"All right! If you can't talk to me then I guess you don't really want a snack after all!"
(In a high voice) "Yes, butter!"
And then she'll try to insist she needs a drink of milk from a bowl on the floor so she can lick it up like a cat.

It's just all a little too much for me to indulge for very long some days. Not to mention, Mrowser is kind of rude. One thing is that the "cat" seems to burp constantly, you know, the fake forced ones that if you hear someone trying to do for more than 10 minutes you start to feel sick yourself. (Or is it just me?) So then we say, "Brianna, please stop burping. You're going to make yourself sick and we don't want to hear it anymore."
"I'm NOT burping, it was Mrowser!" (Yes that stage, the blame it on your naughty imaginary friend part.)
"Well, Mrowser needs to stop then and also needs to say excuse me after burping."
Response (bbuuuuuuurrrp)
Brianna says, "Mrowser, stop that!" (giggle giggle)

I suppose it's all innocent enough but some times it can get on my last nerve. I HATE it when she pretends to be a cat but it's her favorite game lately. She plays it often enough that even my mom can recognize Mrowser, over the phone! I was talking to my Mom the other day and Brianna walked into the room and said something in her little high pitched voice she uses while she's playing pretend cat. And my mom says,
"Is Brianna being Mrowser?"
"Yes..." I say.
"Oh, I thought so," she says, "I recognized that squeaky voice she's using."
Then Mom laughs.
"Oh sure, easy for you." I say. "I HATE it when she's a cat."
Which only makes my mom laugh harder....