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?

Toddlers and nesting instincts

Jelly bean is going through an interesting phase right now. She has decided that after I give her a kiss and hug goodnight, when I am clearly out-of-sight, she gets out of bed and starts gathering things...things like shoes, diapers, baby doll blankets, books and stuffed animals...what ever she can lift, and places it into bed - under the covers. The one morning Hubby noticed she had her shoes on when she jumped out of bed.

Not only is this strange, but a safety issue...and to be honest I am a little worried about her "nesting" habits. Hubby thinks she is using her imagination. I am worried that there are too many things in her bed. So, I went into her room and took all the little stuff out.

I asked her, "Why did you put all this stuff in your bed?"
"What?"
"This stuff?"
"It was cold."

Makes perfect sense to her.

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Imagination

"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

There is nothing like a child's imagination. A child can dream about anything they want, they can be anyone they want, there are no boundaries no limits...this is when thinking out of the box is at its best.

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Picasso

As we grow into this world we are surrounded by "the right way" to think, act and who we "should" be or become. Our imagination gets lost. I hope Jelly-bean never loses her imagination.
We woke this morning to our daughter screaming, "No! Walk away monsters!" Monsters? Where did she come up with this? I said, "You mean Elmo and Cookie Monsters?" she said "Yes, they want to tickle me"...ok, phew, this is manageable.

Later she handed me a baby, well more like air, and asked me to rock her...so I did thinking, this is where her imagination is being formed - how amazing!

And more importantly...how will she keep it!?