When Imaginary Worlds Collide

I love the rich imaginary lives of young children. Liam, as you know, refers to himself as "Zeph." Zeph is a small brown train-riding donkey who eats macaroni and cheese and banana bread. Liam's friend "I" is a fan of the Bob the Builder series. "I" refers to himself as "Bob" while he gives his friends and family members names of other characters from the series. This is all fun to listen to until you have something like the conflict of this morning's playdate:

"I": "Liam is Wendy."

Liam: "I aren't Wendy. I'm Zeph."

"I": "Yes, you are Wendy!"

Liam: "No, I aren't!! I'm ZEPH!!!"

"I": "I'm Bob and Liam is Wendy!"

Liam (bursting into tears): "I aren't! I aren't Wendy! I'm Zeph!"

All afternoon Liam kept asking me, "I'm still Zeph?? I aren't Wendy??" I'm wondering what the conversation was like over at "I"'s house...