Imaginary Menagerie
I love to see children being creative and using their imaginations, but I’m seriously starting to worry about my daughter. Her imagination is out of control! I’ve heard of kids having an imaginary friend before, but this is ridiculous. My toddler has a whole imaginary menagerie!
It started with a family of mice – completely out of the blue. We hadn’t read any books about a mice, or seen anything on tv about mice or even talked about mice recently. So where they came from, I have no idea. From the moment they first “appeared” they were very tangible to my daughter. She told me that there was a mummy mouse, daddy mouse, a girl mouse and a boy mouse (just like our family). She told me what they were doing, where they were going, and how they were acting. They scurried up her leg and travelled around on her shoulder. They went to MOPS with us and to the shops with us. She even asked the minister at church to hold them for her while she was busy doing a job! (He very kindly went along with the whole debacle.)
I could probably deal with it if it stopped with the mice. But oh no! She now has imaginary animals all over the house. If you’re not careful you might sit on pretend eggs from the pretend chooks. And there are always “chocolate butterflies” flying around in our loungeroom. If you are quick as one flits past, you can just pluck it out of the sky and gobble it up. Quite the delicacy. Are you starting to see why I might be concerned?!
It’s not the first time I’ve posted about my daughter’s imagination, and it probably won’t be the last. I’d love some feedback from other mums/moms. Anyone else had experience with their kids having imaginary friends (or imaginary animals)? Anyone like to comment on whether this is “normal” for an almost three-year-old, or a little quirky? Should I stop worrying and just enjoy this phase while it lasts?! Please leave me a comment.
Baby In The Mirror left this comment via Twitter:
Completely normal, probably even psychologically healthy. Check out this link for reading on the subject of imaginary friends…
http://tinyurl.com/cnuqjp
Totally normal and all good…
My girls spend hours together making up the most amazing stories… mostly it is of unicorns and fairies visiting them in the night and leaving presents… and if I can’t see the presents it’s just because I don’t believe in them enough…
First of all, that sounds so adorable! Chocolate butterflies must be delicious.
My child-therapist husband says you should enjoy it while it lasts.
What a spectacular gift! I think we have so many ways to squash imagination nowadays that seeing such a vibrant imagination is refreshing. I can’t wait to see what she becomes!
That is beautiful!
My sister and I shared an imaginary friend. His name was Johnamajon. God, what a legend that thing was (still is!) in our family. My sis also had another “friend” Nutra. So funny to think back on.
Come to think of it, I still have imaginary friends that I talk to during the day – George Clooney for one. But maybe that’s an entirely different topic …
Iam 58 and I had lots of imaginary friend (although must admit no animals). As far as I am aware I grew up resonably normal. I did have and still do have a great imagination. I like to feel I am artistic and that is where imagination is a great help. I have 3 daughters, but only one had an imaginary friend, she is now married with a child of her own who is such a character I think she will probably have lots of “friends”. Enjoy it while it lasts. they grow up so fast. As long as the imaginary life doesn’t take over from the real worls you have nothing to worry about and at 3 you have a long way to go before that becomes an issue.
cheers Sheila
My 3 year old has a very overactive imagination. Like you, I sometimes worry too. She constantly has a friend or two (or whole family) going around with her. I have to feed the whole entourage sometimes. I guess it’s normal.
I had 3 imaginary friends when I was a child. I can only remember having 2 – Mario and Daniel. Mum said I would refuse to eat at the table unless she set room for my ‘friends’. The weird part I have been told is Daniel ‘went back home’ the day my cousin Daniel was born…?
[...] should have know better than to play I Spy with a child whose world is cohabited by imaginary animals. As far as she was concerned the purple elephant in the room was fair [...]
[...] Miss Three has a vivid imagination. She loves make believe games, and has more than one or two imaginary little friends. So I wasn’t surprised that she asked this question at breakfast. Since a few mums have [...]