imaginary friend.....

[vicki.mummy]

I need some advice please,
our youngest, Kristofer, has now got an imaginary friend - and we don't know how to handle it. Do we ignore it, do we tell him that "bob" is not real or do we just accept the whole thing as normal??? Also to be honest I'm not sure that the imaginary friend is not just an excuse to blame him for everything - so far that is all that has happened (it wasn't me, it was bob).... we are so out of our league on this one and could just use some advice really

 

[lauandbump]

I had an imaginary friend as a child for well over a year. I would point out the window saying 'here he comes' and ask my mum to let him in and demand they made him lunch and set a place at the table... At the time my parents got totally freaked out and thought i was seeing a ghost but they just ignored it and let me get on with it. When my little brother was born and i started school my 'friend' disappeared and i have no memory of it at all now. I would just ignore it hun, i'm sure its just a phase xxx

 

[vicki.mummy]

aww thank you - that really helps!!! the biggest problem is placing blame really.... but i think we will just need to tell him we know it's him and NOT bob.....

 

[julietz]

omg are those things rly true, mine never had imaginary friends,if it was me id be thinking the worst like a spirit in the home lol, but im so dramatic sometimes ha ha, im sure its harmless, as long as his behaviour doesnt change or id talk to your doc

 

[JennyMommy29]

My daughter never had an imaginary friend either. However, if she did.... the "friend" would have to be around more than just the times she did something wrong.

 

[BunInTheBelly]

If it weren't for the blaming thing I'd just play along. Imaginary friends can be cute and a way for kids to explore different points of view. With the blaming it on Bob, though, I suggest making it so that he doesn't get away with it. "You and Bob need to sit in time out now," and if he protests make it his responsibility to "teach" Bob to behave and follow the rules of the house.

On a different note, the name Kristofer is so cute spelled that way!

 

[future_numan]

My daughter also had a imaginary friend "Robert" ( it's unuasl for a girl to have a male imaginary friend) for almost a year
He showed up when my oldest daughter started school and you younger daughter missed her..
I welcomed "Robert" into our home.
We set plates for him, he snuggled up for bedtime stories and we even had a birthday party for "Robert"
"Robert" went away when I enrolled my daughter into Nursery School.
My daughter is now grown and is very creative ( she is in school for interior design) so I think "Robert" kick started that for her..
I wouldn't worry about it and just let you child have her "friend"

 

[LaaLaa]

My daughter had imaginary friends; it was fun!
I'd just let it play out - my DD's second friend (the first was an imaginary puppy) apparently got on an aeroplane and never came back - issue over. I quite missed her.

 

[kerrie24]

My eldest had an imaginary friend,called dilly dally
She had gold eyes and white hair!She never did anything naughty though.
I would just say,'no,bob didnt do it because he is a good boy,and mummy knows it was you who did it'.Apart from that,just ignore it,make a deal of it and it will last longer.

 

[Racheldigger]

My toddler manual suggests that you sort out the blame-shifting aspect by saying "Well, since you're his friend, you can help him clear it up!"

I never took my imaginary friends home, so my mum never met them: they were a family of magic invisible foxes that lived in a labyrinth of tunnels under the berberis bushes at the end of the infant school playground, and ate flowers.

 

[vicki.mummy]

thanks so much for all the advice - we chatted last night (OH and I) and we are going to go with it, see what happens but not let him blame Bob. We really appreciate the advice tho - we were so out of our league on this one.

 

[summer rain]

My second youngest has a whole troupe of imaginary friends of different ages and even genders; he isn't very imaginative with their names though; as they all rhyme with his name

 

[pinkflamingo]

I had one as a child and my mum went along with it. It wore off after a few months.

As for the blaming 'Bob', I would point out that as Bob was his special friend that he is not being a very nice friend by misbehaving so much in your house, and that your son needs to speak with him and explain that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable anymore. I would then add on the end that if Bob does not stop this misbehaving that your son will have to suffer the punishments until he can convince Bob that he needs to be a more thoughtful friend and be good when he is around the house. Point out that your son would not go over to a friends house and 'do *whatever the bad behaviour just done was*' and so you won't accept that from his friend either.

It's good to have an imagination as a child! You just need to find a balance that isn't dismissing his 'special friend' nor is it allowing him to get away with bad behaviours.

xx

 

[xoxsarahxox]

Children with imaginary friends are ment to be very clever my son use to have one called mr bently. He use to have dinner with us and occasionally we would loose him so would have to go find the poor bugger. He grew out of it after a few weeks though. I worried at firs but then it became quite amusing x

 

[myasmumma]

i used to have one call elizabeth lol my mum had to make her lunch and dinner also..just go with it

as for the blaming thing i like the idea of having them both on the naughty step then hes not getting away with it but your not "singling him out" IYKWIM

 

[kittycat18]

I know this is completely off topic but before I was even born, my older sister had an imaginary friend who lived in her curtains in her bedroom. She had the imaginary friend for almost 4 years and during that time she did lots of naughty stuff around the house. Then it started getting more serious than that and my mum actually rang a priest to bless the house, my sisters bedroom and the curtains. The priest said there was a presence in the house and my sister never spoke of the imaginary friend again

Me and my brother had imaginary friends called Lisa and Michael. They were fun for a while until I decided I didn't like them anymore and told my brother that Lisa murdered Michael and wanted to kill him. My mum was not impressed

 

[pinkflamingo]

Me and my brother had imaginary friends called Lisa and Michael. They were fun for a while until I decided I didn't like them anymore and told my brother that Lisa murdered Michael and wanted to kill him. My mum was not impressed

sorry hun but that did just make me laugh!! I guess the imagination of a child can go to the extreme!!!

x

 

[Stepie1234]

My daughter had a imaginary friend from the time she could talk to the time i finally took her out of school and homeschooled her so litle 5 or 6 years. We did the whole works birthdays 'Cathy' went to school, we'd set an extra plate for her usually with food from Netty's ply kitchen. It was fun and when one of them got in trouble which was actually very rare they both had to go to the "quiet corner" which was a tent i made of all see-through cloth had classical music playing and a few books.

 

[kittycat18]

sorry hun but that did just make me laugh!! I guess the imagination of a child can go to the extreme!!!

x

Yeah, we were so young and looking back on it now it was very cruel scaring my little brother like that but when your child you don't realise Apparently he had nightmares for weeks because I scared him so much! xx