Imaginary Friends

[Mission]

So I am reading my Lifespan Psych book (a class I have to take and therefore was determined to hate but find I am actually not hating quite as much ad I'd hoped) and they had a special section on Imaginary Friends. To wit, "The prevalence of imaginary companions may be greater than one might have guessed. Although not all children who have imaginary companions will disclose this information to adults, some studies have shown that as many as 65% of young children have imaginary companions, and some children have more than one. (Singer & Singer, 1990)" (Development Through Life: A Psychosocial Approach, Newman & Newman, p. 206)

Blah, blah, blah. I thought it was interesting that as many as 65% of children may have had imaginary friends. My sister and I had a whole stable of them called Little People that were miniature versions of people we knew, people in movies and so forth. We used to sit and invent all sorts of stories of what they did and what happened to them and so forth. Many of them were based on the first Star Wars movie (Little Lukey and Little Leia were prominent players).

So how about you? Did you have any imaginary friends you're willing to fess up to? Who were they and what were they like?

[Brig]

I've only ever had one...a girl that follows me everywhere, sits in my chair with me, eats when I do, sleeps where I do, can't hold her liquor, plays games with me and listens to my stories and- wait...that's Mae...

65% though, huh? That's cool. I'd be interested in seeing the results of a similar study done amongst twins, triplets, etc. I'm guessing the number would be lower, but I don't know.

Edited February 8, 2009 by Brig

[LadyBarbossa]

:::Shakes head:: I admit.. I'm probably one of that 35% who didn't have an imaginary friend. Toys to play with - yes. Recreating and playing out my fav kiddie shows or some movies (Jem, He-Man, Goonies, Mysterious Cities of Gold, etc) - yes. But never did I have an imaginary friend that I can absolutely remember.

Dreamed more about adventure than I did creating something unreal.

~Lady B

[lady constance]

hmmm as i have a whole passal of children, i can attest to them having imaginary friends.. as in i just sat on and squashed their little friend..........

over the years there have been wolfie, benji ,woody,pincess, ping-ooowh{ the most ANNOYING imaginary friend ever! it only SQUAKED... and i had to serve as interpreter}, stikly, turt....

right now the 4 year old has honey bunny...a stuffed littel bunny that is about the size of a real bunny of 2 months....but when honey bunny cannot be found, honey bunny is on adventure....eating socks and dirt lumps left of the floor " noooo momma! dat for hunee bunneee! no sweep his food off foor!" honey bunnee eats bees and spits out fluff when he does not like what you are doing......

i find the children often conjure/ find an imaginary play friend when real ones are so unsatisfactory... the imaginary friend is more than willing to do what the child wants, play what the child wants and not excessively bossy at all....infact they are perfect in a world that is less than perfect to childs sense of fairness and loving concern and attention....

and i have fixed more pb&j's , extra cookies and snacks for imaginary friends over the years.. yes i indulge my childrens imagination... and these creatures can alos be sent into time out and into the corner right along with the offending child

yes, i had a few-- although i think she was all the same person-- she just changed her name as i grew-- as i got smarter and older so did she!

crazy as it sounds, i think all along it has been one of my gaurdian angels.....

does the book you are reading address indigo children? teh concept?

very interesting mission......

thanks for sharing....

[Patrick Hand]

It was so long ago, that I can only just barely remember having one...I was like 3 or 4 years old at the time....I can't remember his name, but I had an imaginary friend when I was a kid....He wasn't a stuffed animal or toy, but a real (well Imaginary) person that we would go exploring together....

It would be an interesting study, to find out how "adjusted" or creative, the people that had imaginary friends are later in life......

[Honour Bright]

Never had one. I had sisters--that was plenty!

Now why does the song 'Imaginary Lover' go through my mind?

[Mission]

Now why does the song 'Imaginary Lover' go through my mind?

Because you haven't learned your occulumency.

[Mission]

The textbook says that imaginary friends are prevalent in toddlerhood (2-4 years approximately) and I've heard that we don't remember much from before we were 6 or 7. This may account for the lack of memory most of us have of imaginary friends. It also explains why poor old Silas has had so many encounters with them and remembers so many. The ones my sister and I had were from about the age of 10. We almost always talked about them from the omniscient POV, which makes me suspect that even my example is not so great. I don't recall having a first person imaginary friend. Maybe I'll ask my mom about it.

[Salty]

ne'er had invisable friends as a child, hell in my imaginary world even they would probably want to kill me. I find real tangible friends more pleasing.

Salty says as she buys a round for a virtual pub

ye ship's potter,

Salty

[Graydog]

I had imaginary friends once, unfortunately I left them out and my dog ate them. Truly tragic, I understand Mr. Backinstandup painted the entire scene as the others were being consumed, a real work of art, at home that day. The fact that an imaginary fried could paint a real work of art had the potential of making me wealthy beyond my dreams. It could prove to the world just how real imaginary friends could be. It would show how they had not all died in vain. It could hang in the Smithsonian and be entitled the Homework’s of Mr. Backinstandup an imaginary friend in a real world. Alas, my dog at the homework too.

[LadyBarbossa]

Hmmm... good point, Mission. I don't remember my life before age 4. Earliest memories I have at that age is my getting run over by a car (yes, you read right) and being in the hospital (the old hospital it's called now which has since been torn down a couple years and replaced with a new extention to the hospital... but anyway, that old hospital was suppose to be haunted. Hell, never recall seeing or hearing a ghost. Course, I was only 4 when that happened.).

But just remember any imaginary friend. Not when there were so many friends around to play with, the cats and other animals... and of course my sister who was only a year and 3 months younger than I so, yeah, we were constantly playing. Oh, and some of the toys we had, too. Plenty of toys to play with I suppose.

~Lady B