Behavior - Auburn,GA

Its fine, its normal.... they do this at this age and younger and older.

She is probably real creative.
Things like this also helps a child to learn and process thoughts and ideas and feelings, and role playing. Lots of good stuff.

Hubba...he played hockey and got lost a lot. He was a 3 year old boy, my 3 year old daughter's best friend. He got lost at a fair once, and she sat in the stroller, calling (are you ready?) "Hubba, Hubba?" Hubba, Hubba?"

I kinda miss Hubba.

M.

My daughter started with an imaginary friend named Shabie. Oh, the stories about Shabie over the years!! Shabie had a whole family!! She wasn't a trouble maker, but she did help my daughter cope with things that happened in real life. We had a small electrical fire once. Within a week, my daughter told me a whole story about how Shabie's house had burned down! She even drew pictures of Shabie and her family so we could see what they looked like, and once she started going to elementary school, she would occasionally tell me that Shabie lived in her desk at school. We heard less and less about Shabie over the years... and then when she was 7 and just beginning second grade, I had another child. When my son was born, my children's grandfather brought her to swim at the hotel pool where he was staying while I was in the hospital...and my daughter came to see me at the hospital and she told me she had bad news. She said that Shabie drowned in the hotel pool and died!!!! It was so sad, but it was like now that she had a REAL little brother, she didn't need an imaginary friend anymore!

If her friends do naughty things, she needs to discipline them and put them in time out or take away privilages from them. She may be using them to test boundaries with you, so use them as teachable moments. No one who lives in your house is allowed to be disrespectful and not follow house rules, nor are they allowed to get away with being unkind to others.

By the way, my daughter has a gifted IQ and is very creative. Good luck-- the smart ones are a challenge!!

Hi E.,

I had to chuckle when I read this. Aren't they awesome? I mean 4 yr. olds AND imaginary friends. And what an imagination! I love their names. My daughter had one imaginary friend, and it was also a boy which I find kind of interesting. He was naughty, but she got on to him more and liked to boss him around. I think as the youngest she just like the idea of being in charge of *somebody*. She also had a family of dinosaurs. Imaginary miniature dinosaurs that she took care of all the time. They fit right in the palm of her hand. I loved to hear how her imagination worked and would ask her questions about them all the time just to see what she would come up with.

If you find that you have to discipline her because "her friends" are causing problems, you could always say that her guests are her responsibility so if she can't get them to follow the rules then she AND her guests will be in trouble. Any way you look at it, it's tons of fun!!

L.

I had an imaginary friend named Billy.

He was my "bestest" friend. He was a little boy that was a cowboy. I would hold his hand and we played together all of the time even in the bath. He would get hungry at meals, so my mom would make up a plate for him. He sat in the chair right next to me. He liked his chair to touch mine, if we went out to eat, Billy said he would share the food from my plate. . He could not go to sleep unless my mom kissed him goodnight.

I have read that children with imaginary friends tend to be pretty creative. I guess that is pretty obvious..

my daughter was playing tag last week with her imaginary friend's ghost, or something. it was sooo funny! i don't think there is anything wrong with it, unless it's causing trouble (like keeping her up at night), and if so, i'd act like it was a real person and say they all need to go to bed or the "friend" has to go home!!! hahaha!!!!

Oh my gosh that is too cute!!! I think it is good to have an active imagination like that. I would probably play along and kiss them all good night at bed time, or talk to them. My little one has imaginary friends, sisters, brothers etc....she is a only child, so I figured she made them up so she wasnt lonely...

That is just so cute!! Encourage her emotional development. Unfortunately, for a while you will be talking to pretend friends also. My kids all had imaginary friends but they only lasted for a short time. My sister had one that was with her a lot.

We have mi mi (pronounced mee mee:) ) . At first we found it odd and it freaked me out a little. He was a little boy that lived in my son's hand. I did some research and apparently they are a good sign. Kids with imaginary friends supposedly have better communication. Mi Mi has changed a little over the years...I don't think he lives in my son's hand any more. The only issue we have had is my son blaming Mi Mi for things that he has done...which has led us to conversations about telling the truth. And like the previous poster mentioned...my son knows he is responsible for Mi Mi, so he has to remind him occasionally that it's bedtime and not time to play. I am going to enjoy it while I can. I am sure someday soon, I will be missing Mi Mi.

Oh gee....we have a little mouse that lives in the bath tub, a family of dinosaurs in the second bathroom, and my three year old tells me that she has a baby in her tummy that gets the blame when she burps or passes gas. Try not to look embarrased when she tells the person behind you in the grocery store that one!

I definitely agree that little friends must be disciplined if they are misbehaving...you may find, like I do, that your daughter sends them to timeout on her own!

Otherwise, enjoy the stories and foster her imagination.

Oh, one more thing, I find that sometimes the stories reflect activities of the day. If she spent a lot of time in time out at school, then little mouse might end up in the corner for a while as well.

My granddaughter had a little friend when she was 4 but since she started to school last year her imaginary friend has disappeared. Your daughter will probably loose her imaginary friends when she starts to pre-kindergarten.
P. S

I had an imaginary friend growing up; her name was Sheila. I don't remember it much, but my Mom said she used to have a separate place at dinner for her, but she ate "invisible" food.

My three year old son has Poco Coco; he is blue with black hair, goes to school at night and is usually pretty funny. Poco Coco does have to follow our family's rules when he is with us, and, as long as he does, he is welcome anytime. My son understands this, so I am able to enjoy the insights I get into his mind via his interaction with his "friend".

Just be glad her little "friends" are people, we have baby gorillas!!! Five of them and you can imagine the havoc they can get into! She's had them around for a while now they come and go. Just enjoy the stories.

Its funny you should mention this. My daughter was the same way. She had 2 friends that she talked to all the time. Explain to your daughters' that her little friends have to go to sleep, tell her to say "Goodnight" to all of them and she will speak with them in the morning when she wakes up. These little friends will eventually fade in time and when you mention it to them when they grow up they will always remember their names.
Good luck to both of you!!

We had "Baby Monster" and his big brother, Blye, who was old enough to drive a car. They usually joined us at dinner time, would perch on people's shoulders.

It's nice to see in the responses that no one seems to worry much these days about "over-active imaginations" or confusing fantasy with reality, or a sign that they need a sibling, dog, or whatever. (Child development researchers say that when the kids have invented the fantasy themselves, they realize the difference between it and reality.)

Although I did have to do some convincing to one of my child's Montessori teachers who didn't think it was appropriate when the children would play "elephant family" on the playground and believed they children needed to be redirected or otherwise discouraged. I did a little research, and here's what I found, just in case you're interested:

http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/202632_imaginary07.html

http://www.azcentral.com/families/articles/1222pretendpal...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,###-###-...

http://www.parentmap.com/content/view/129/462/

http://books.google.com/books?id=V5NZ4u2uGOwC&pg=PA11...