Does anyone have a child with an imaginary friend? My almost 4 year old all of a sudden has two imaginary friends and I'm not quite sure how to handle "Beejo" and "Barney". He does not talk to them all the time but he usually carries on conversations with them while in the car. The other day I heard him say "why of course Beejo you are welcome to come into the house." Today I stopped at McDonalds to get him a happy meal and he had a fit that I did not buy 3 happy meals because Beejo and Barney were hungry too. I had to explain that Beejo and Barney did not have any money to purchase their happy meals so they would have to share with him.
Has anyone else had to deal with this issue? How do you treat imaginary friends?
I had imaginary friends at your son's age. My family encouraged the friendships without going overboard. At the time, my mom read that they were "normal" and actually told me later that imaginary friends are a "sign of intelligence". She may have been trying to humor me on the latter
I would treat them the way you are now. Respect them as your son's friends, but obviously within limits. I think you handled the McD's situation well!
I think you did awesome with the situation at McDonald's. Loved how you took advantage of that opportunity to throw a social skills lesson in there
Is your son is around other children a lot? Does he interact okay with peers his age?
When you said he "had a fit," does that mean a full blown tantrum or he just got a little fussy?
eta: Not trying to be an alarmist at all. Should add that this is a typical thing at this stage of development. Guess I just wanted to throw those questions out there in case there was more to consider, for you or anyone else reading.
Last edited by southerner; 08-30-2006 at 07:12 PM.
My daughter is only 18 mo, but I am pretty sure she has an imaginary friend. I think it might be elmo, but not sure. We just play with "him" mostly. For example, when we play "name that body part" we point to the body parts on the imaginary friend as well and I will name them. Its a bit wierd for me sometimes to point to imaginary parts and all, but she seems to enjoy it. Guess I'm glad she has an active imagination.
I clearly remember my imaginary friends when I was a preschooler: Fred the frog, Amy and Michael. I turned out pretty good I think;-)
My younger DS who will be 4 in Oct. has an imaginary friend named "Mark". His older brother's best friend is a 'Mark' so thats were he got the name from. He pops up once in awhile, esp. if his older brother is off playing with his 'Mark'. He sometimes asks for food or a drink for his friend and I tell him he has to share his food and once I gave him an extra cup (empty) for his friend. I think its cute and just play along. He plays with his toys and sometimes you can hear him talking to his friend.
I had one at that age. Her name was Cathy . My ped told my mom to get me involved in more social activities (although I was already in pre-school FT by then). I think that's when I started gymnastic and ice skating though. Cathy ditched me after that. Guess she didn't like either sport too much .
"He who knows he has enough is rich" - Lao Tzu --<--@ Tiffany @-->-- LJ ~ Chart
Have you guys heard of the psychic Sylvia Browne? She says they're not imaginary at all, but that your child is talking to his/her individual spirit guide.
My daughter had one about this age. His name was clipper. she had a extra bed in her room that clipper lived on. She got pretty upset when her cousin stayed with us and slept in that bed. We had to assure that that Keeli wouldn't squich clipper. If you ask her about it today (she's 16) she remembers clipper very well.
I don't think either of my boys had imaginary friends.
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DS does not have one, yet. His imaginary play has really started to take off recently so it would not suprise me if he finds one over the next year. I have read that they are totally normal and that kids who have them are often very bright. They can also be a way for kids to deal with things they wished they had not done. Imaginary Friends spilled the milk not me, and she says she is sorry.
One other thing I read is that you as an adult should not pay too much attention to them. That if you focus on them as if they were real the child will often get rid of them. Sounds like it can be a difficult balancing act for the parents. Dealing with the child's insistance that the friend is there and needs a snack, drink, chair ect while not getting too involved by asking about things like hair color or where the friends family live or whatever. I am guessing that we are only suppose to refer to them and ask question if the matter is introduced by the child at the moment and ignore the matter otherwise.
Imaginary Friends
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