Names

Ethan (3) has been really into Thomas the train. One day a few weeks ago he came to school and declared that his name is Thomas Lee.

He started insisting that he's Thomas Lee and nothing else. And the children quickly picked it up. One wanted to be a musketeer, one wanted to be Barbie, one wanted to be princess, one wanted to be Dora, it was a never ending battle trying to call out the right names all day long.

Then last week, 'Thomas' found new names, and he said, "My mummy is Emily, my daddy is Gordon." For those are Thomas train's friends' names. I told him Emily is Ezra's mother's name, and he was dumbfounded and unhappy. But the next day he told me there can be 2 Emily in our school.

Last week in class I gave out worksheets, and called out his name "Ethan" as written on the paper. "I'm Thomas." he insisted. And the other kids start to insist on their new names too. "I'm sorry, this paper here says Ethan and not Thomas, if you're Thomas you do not belong to this class you may leave now." He looked at me, pouted and gave it a deep thought. A short while later, "so are you Ethan or Thomas?" He quietly answered, "Ethan."

I talked to the mum and she said he calls the parents by their new names. Mum is Emily and Dad is Gordon Alex (Dad's name is Alex). Today he told me, "I got 3 Thomas trains at home. My Emily and Gordon gave it to me when I birthday."