46

So, I don't know if you know, but my kid thinks he is a lion. No, seriously. He really does. He roars all day long. He crawls along. He talks to me in a growly voice "Nooo(roar), Mama, I don't want to take a bath (Roar)."

At first we thought it was cute.

Then, we thought it was a little strange. I mean he thought he was a lion for pete's sake. He'd growl at bugs and kittens and well, everyone. For a while he was Scar. He was the mean lion from the Lion King. He liked Scar. It's OK to like the villain, right? My dad always like the villains in movies. Cruella Deville, The Grinch, I can't even think of anyone else. I just assumed Jack was taking after Ga. It wouldn't be the first time.

He would be a lion at school. But he was too violent. He'd try to replay the final scene when Simba and Scar are fighting over the cliff. He'd take his action figured and make them "falled." ("Mama, Lion King falled. Mama! Scar falled.")

It was when he tried to take down my mom that I thought it was enough. We took the Lion King away from him... along with 1 1/2, and 2. No more Lion King! But he didn't let it go. We tried everything. Shrek, Sesame Street, Thomas the Choo-Choo Train, Curious George. Sure, he liked them OK. But not with the same passion. We deflated him. So we brought in movies that had Lions but weren't the Lion King like Madagascar.

Anything with a Lion, and sometimes Tigers, he wanted. Action figures, movies, T-shirts, a zip-up sweatshirt. He had super hero-like powers when it came to finding a Lion. We'd be in the car and he'd see a billboard with a small picture of a lion and he'd scream, "MAMA!!!!! LION KING!!!!" Some kid would have a lion on their shirt and he'd point it out. He couldn't stop his love for Lions.

So, I sat him down. I told him I would give him the Lion King back but no Lion King at school. He had to be the nice Lion. He had to be King Mufasa. It seems to have worked.

Everyday I pick him up he comes running to me saying, "No Lion King, Mama. No Lion King." And then I talk to his teacher and she tells me he was the Lion King but he was nice about it. Yesterday, he was assigning animals to other kids. He made Go-Go be a monkey. Devin was a Giraffe.

So now we are about a month away from Halloween. Last year, I had him dress up as a frog. He looked sooo cute. Husband and I have been debating about letting him be a lion. Sometimes he forgets his manners when he transforms into the King of the Jungle. Initially, my parents were against it.

But last weekend, Jack was staying at their house so I could go to the Notre Dame disaster. My mom was showing him the book I made her of my JWJ blog. She showed him the picture of him dressed in a frog suit. She explained Halloween and pointed out that he was dressed as a frog.

Apparently, he was disgusted. He made a face. "No Frog, Ma. Lion King. Jack Lion King."

So, that settled it. We all agreed he'd have nothing to do with any other costume -- not even the cute clown suit my mom had made for my brother when he was a toddler. And he would be devastated if anyone else showed up as a Lion and he was a purple clown.

The suit came today. It's fantastic. I can't wait to show him. He may lose his mind. He may never, ever take it off.