Most School-Aged Children Have Imaginary Friends

[kebaldwin]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&ncid=751&e=2&u=/nm/20041210/hl_nm/imaginary_friends_dc

Great news! I was getting worried about my younger daughter ...

[muse]

well your sig says it all, welcome the eccentricity, I do with my kids....

[kebaldwin]

The sig is from my 5 year old. For some reason, she goes around saying "you're wierd" -- to everyone. Sort of like most kids saying "whatever". \

To improve her vocabulary I tell her "I'm not wierd -- I'm eccentric".

Second, I take it as a compliment that I am different.

[muse]

Its a great reply, and a useful characteristic, your kids will be lucky if it rubs off you and onto them.

[Bugaboo]

My goofiness definately rubs off on my youngest son, he's got the same sense of humor so we just crack each other up while my oldest son and husband look at us like we're a couple of loonies.
My oldest son (now 10) had an imaginary friend named "Henry" for about a year back in 2001. "Henry" asked me a lot of questions about 9-11 and I think it really helped my son get through that. At the time my sister was living in Hoboken, NJ but worked at the corporate office for B of A in downtown Manhattan less than a mile away from the towers so he had a lot of anxiety about Auntie Ln. Being a child with Aspergers (a form of autism) it can be very difficult for him to share his feelings and "Henry" helped him to vocalize his fears and thoughts and together we worked them out. "Henry" just gradually disappeared on his own as my son was able to vocalize his thoughts better. We never discouraged him though and let him go through that phase in his own way. Oddly my other son (who is 8yrs old) never had an imaginary friend (I didn't as a child either) so maybe it's certain personalities that have imaginary friends.