Daddies, Mommies, and Mommies and Daddies

We've always referred to Braydon as "Papi" in our family, but the boys have long referred to other kids fathers as their "Daddies." They understand that other people use the word "Daddy" to mean the same thing that our word "Papi" means. They'll often say things like, "My Daddy is my Papi" or "Papi is my Daddy." Although K & O -- like most young children in the U.S.A. -- have unfortunately been bombarded with the mythology/symbolism/rhetoric/ideology/imagery of the 'nuclear family,' we go way out of our way to be clear that not all families resemble the culturally dominant Mommy-Daddy-and-children portrait. They know, for example, that some kids live with just a mom, or just a dad, or just their grandma/grandpa/etc., etc., etc. And, because of their own history, and our conversations about adoption, they know that some kids don't have a Mommy or a Daddy or a family at all. Also, because we make it a point to talk about it a lot, and because they've been exposed to lots of different kinds of families, the boys fully understand the concept that some kids have "two Mommies" and some kids have "two Daddies." We went through a phase with Kyle a while back when he would regularly tell us that he wished that instead of having one Mommy and one Papi, he had "two Mommies." This was during a phase of intense competition between K & O for my attention and affection. During that phase he would mention his wish for "two Mommies" regularly, but there were two times when his explicit verbalization of this wish was particularly pronounced. Both times he discussed this wish (his rational: "...because then Owen could have a Mommy and I could have a Mommy too!"), and he discussed it often (repeatedly, and semi-obsessively for several day stretches at a time). Both times were non-coincidentally on the heels of us having gotten together socially with Two-Mommy-families. About a month ago we spent some time with a Two-Daddy-family but neither K or O seemed to have much to say about that, and Kyle's intense "two Mommy" phase is long gone. But tonight, totally completely 100% out of the blue, when I was putting Owen to bed he asked me, "Mommy, after you kiss me night night then Papi will come?" (our ritual is that we each say goodnight to a boy and then we switch and say goodnight to the other). I said, "Yes, after I go, then Papi will come." Owen said, "O.k. Mommy!" He then announced to me matter-of-factly: "I am pretending that I have two Daddies." I said, "O.k.!" He said, "But I don't have two Daddies. I have one Mommy and one Daddy. But I am pretending. I am pretending that I have two Daddies." "O.k.!" I said again, then I kissed him goodnight and his one Papi went into his room to tuck him in.