Early last week, Will began telling us all about “My Boy,” a young tot whose true name “was a secret” and who possessed a staggering array of goodies including a rocket ship and a dinosaur, all of which he eagerly shares with Will. We made note of the new friend and life went on.
Over the weekend, two more friends appeared in his lexicon. “My Girls,” named “Alicia” and “Johnnie,” jumped into his conversation. In fact, he told us this morning that he was going to go play at “My Girls” house this afternoon with the “whole lot of toys” they have at home. He also told us that “My Boy” is named “Frank.”
There are a few clues to the details of his collection of imaginary friends (how he misses the girls next door, now moved back to their old neighborhood, as an example), but as a whole, we’re intrigued at this new development. It does tickle me a little bit that Will has not invented just one imaginary friend, but THREE.
Anyone have leads on developmental/educational literature (academic and other) related to the creation of imaginary friends?
Miss Michelle | 15-Sep-07 at 11:59 am | Permalink
Holly, according to my mom i had an imaginary set of boy/girl twins as my best friends. My mom said i would be giggling in the living room. She remembered that the boys name was Pedro. I have no recollection of this, but I do remember in my mid grammar school days, I had an immaginary enemy, named Swampface. I had very low self-esteem and created her to feel better about myself. We would complete in imaginary contests and sporting events. Hope you don’t think im crazy, hope you still trust me with your kids! haha
Cold Spaghetti | 15-Sep-07 at 7:07 pm | Permalink
Swampface sounds like a brilliant invention — and a great way to let the adults around you get a glimpse of what you were experiencing!
We’re trying to pick up clues to see if there are specific habits or characteristics of My Boy and My Girls that would give some sense of what/why/how all this came about.