The Peter Pan Complex

I've decided that if Joey could get on the next flight to Neverland, he would.  He is very determined to "not get big," and "stay wittle."  I'm not really sure where this "I don't wanna grow up," state-of-mind came from, but every time we say anything about being a big boy, he says, "NO. My friends get big.  I need to stay wittle."

I actually think this came about when we started talking about him giving up his beloved binkie.  We said the typical things that parents say to their sometimes-agreeable 3 year old, like "you're a big boy now," or "you're not a baby, and only babies have binkies."  Surprisingly, Joey quit using his binkie about a week ago and the transition has gone pretty well.  But I do think that the whole, "you're too big for a binkie" discussion sparked this fear of growing up in my boy.

Joey's worry about growing up has prompted him to ask me if certain foods will make him big when I them to him.  This also started from my seemingly harmless statements about eating so he can get big and strong like daddy.  Perhaps I used that line too frequently to coerce him into eating.

We are trying to talk Joey into thinking that growing up is actually a good thing, and sometimes I feel like he agrees with me.  (Like when I tell him that big boys get to eat gummies and ice cream, but little boys don't.)  But most of the time I think he's just ready to join Peter Pan and The Lost Boys in Neverland.

*UPDATE: Joey gave up his binkie for about 1 week.  No one got any sleep, and he was kind of a nightmare to be around.  To make our move a smoother transition I gave it back to him.  I won the battle but lost the war. *