Imaginary Introductions

World Wide Web, I would like to introduce you to Bella, Becca and Alligator.

These three are my child's (Jelly Bean) imaginary friends (aka her alter-ego).

Bella is a girl (aka Bean's friend, sister and the angel)
Becca is a boy (aka Bean's friend, brother and the devil)
Alligator (to be determined)

Bella and Becca are twins. I find these two the most interesting, because Bella and Bean get along great...and they love to fight with Becca.

You see, Bella and Bean can do no wrong...they are perfect angels. Becca, on the other hand, is always up to no good...

"Who wrote on the table?" Daddy asks angrily.
"Becca did it." Bean says innocently.

"Who wiped the boogies on the car door?" Mommy asks angrily.
"Becca did it." Bean says innocently.

"Bean, don't spit, that is not nice." Mommy corrects Bean.
"I didn't do it mommy, Becca did it." With a straight and serious face, says Bean.

Are you seeing the pattern here? Hubby and I decided it was time to try some creative play. I thought it might help to put Becca into time out and talk to him about his bad behavior. But of course, Bean had to help me by bringing Becca to me (so I wasn't talking to thin air).

After I sat Becca down and talked to her (of course Bean had some words for her too), she sat in time out. A friend had success with this method with her daughter. But mine thought it was a game...

Next up...Daddy says, "For now on, if Becca does something she knows she shouldn't do, Bean gets in trouble too." Brilliant!

It seems that Bean is keeping Becca out of trouble lately!

Do your children blame someone else for something they do? How do you handle it?

The Calvin and Hobbes syndrome

I recently read that some toddlers have such active imaginations, that they actually believe what they are imagining.

Sort of like Calvin and Hobbes.

Calvin, a mischievous little boy, and his stuffed Tiger, Hobbes find themselves in all sorts of trouble. To the adults, Hobbes is a stuffed Tiger. To Calvin, Hobbes is his very much alive tiger and best friend.

Similar to Calvin, Jelly has her imaginary friends...Bella and Becca. These two, who I assume are her sisters, whom she loves to boss around all the time. She plays with them at home, fights with them in the car and the moment hubby or I interrupt, she gets very shy and bashful about it, "No, turn around!"


Bella and Becca have quite the reputation around our household (similar to Hobbes), they usually are the ones causing any and all the trouble...well besides what our fat cat Tobee doesn't do.

She can become so actively engaged with her sisters/friends...that sometimes hubby and I have a hard time distinguishing whether she is talking to us or her friends.

I am not quite sure what the psychology is behind imaginary friends, if it is toddlers learning social skills, how to have a conversation or if it is a coping mechanism (loneliness or helping them through a difficult situation) or maybe it is as plain and simple as a developmental thing.

Does your little one have an imaginary friend?