Unlike the rest of the girls in her preschool class, our daughter did not want to be something pretty last Halloween. Among the princesses, fairies, and ladybugs, our little hippo did not go unnoticed. It went without saying that she would need a hippo costume for Halloween as well as a hippo themed party for her birthday. While at first my husband and I were proud that she hadn't fallen for Dora or Barbie, we soon learned that in large doses, hippos could be equally annoying. Accustomed to the passing fancies of toddlerhood, we grew concerned as this preschool stage intensified with each passing month. As we fielded the obvious question from family and friends, my husband and I began to wonder the same thing. Where did this fascination come from? And more importantly, will it ever end? nnWe've tried to pinpoint when our daughter's attraction became an obsession, but nothing specific comes to mind. At first, hunting for hippo stuff was fun for all involved. We searched through all of the dollar stores and thrift shops in our small town, and watched with amusement as the small group outgrew their cardboard hippo house. Family and friends contributed to the collection, bringing hippo trinkets from big cities each time they visited. Surfing the web for a generic animal proved to be more dangerous than the board books at the library. As well as cute coloring pages, we found stories and videos of hippos eating marbles, grass, and even human beings. The odd hippo nightmare didn't leave a mark, though my husband and I soon realized that, like Sandra Boynton's picture book, the hippos were driving us berserk. nnAs well as being frustrated by the consumerism and the repetitiveness of this infatuation, we began to wonder whether the behavior was normal for a three-year-old. Worried that Googling preschool obsessions would lead to articles on autism or OCD, I was relieved to find Jane Haddam's article, Preschool Passions Explained, featured at
www.parents.com. Jane Haddam discusses the "all-consuming passion" of preschoolers and offers numerous opinions by experts on why this hippo thing is part of a healthy stage of development. Haddam explains that three and four-year olds use favorite toys and characters to gain independence and claim a stake on the world. In my translation that means the hippos are coming to breakfast at 7:00 am with lights out by eight—whether they like it or not. For a second opinion I went to a reliable source of moms from my community. I was delighted to find that a number of their preschoolers had entered a similar stage. While our daughter brought hippos for show-and-tell every month, another three year old girl brought various wooly mammoths! Whether it was dinosaurs or dogs or Spiderman, most preschoolers had a burgeoning collection of something that ranked supreme. "It's different with five year olds," our daughter's Sunday school teacher promised me, pointing to her own daughter's pet-of-the day. "This week it's pugs," she added, showing me the mini collection. "Last week it was something else."nnThough we may have another year to go, I am becoming more accepting of our little house hippos. When others question whether our daughter's interests have changed, I find myself siding with the preschool teachers. She loves hippos. It's cute. At least it's not Barbie. Besides offering her companionship and security, the hippos have also taught our daughter how to compare sizes, shapes, textures, and prices! Throughout our day they take her to imaginary lands where thankfully, at times, no one else is invited. And, like the hippos themselves, our hippo activities have multiplied and matured. We play various made-up games like Hide the hippo and Which hippo am I thinking of, and have turned favorite songs and rhymes into hippo tunes. The birthday party guests enjoyed their hippolatin names, while playing games like Duck Duck Hippo, What time is it Mr. Hippo, and of course, Pin the tail on you know who. nnWe do our best to "encourage a reasonable passion" as Jane Haddam suggests, though, there are times when even hippo alternatives seem too much to bear. Instead of grabbing a broom or the phone when the hippo blues set in, I've found a new lifeline in Jane Silberg's book, 500 Five Minute Games: Quick and Easy Activities for 3-6 year olds. Our daughter associates Silberg's book with giggles and can't wait to listen for the instructions of our first five minute game. With its simple and straightforward layout I can choose a game, scan the instructions, and explain our daughter's role before she can ask the dreaded words, "Do you wanna play hippos?" When this break is over, and she is desperate for us to get back to her four footed friends, I initiate a round of Hippo Massage, which has me stretching out comfortably on my stomach, closing my eyes, and guessing which hippo is rolling up and down my spine. I highly recommend this game to parents, which can be easily adapted to accommodate many preschool passions, especially four wheeled vehicles like Thomas trains. nnn