Imaginary Friends

“Memoirs of an imaginary friend” by Matthew Dicks is one of my new favourite books. It’s narrated by Max Delaney’s imaginary friend, Budo.

The farther I got into the book, the more I started to think of Budo as a real person.  He could talk and walk. He had feelings. He knew the difference between right and wrong. He had friends who were also imaginary.

After finishing the book,  I got jealous because I don’t recall having an imaginary friend while growing up. 

I do remember setting up my stuffed animals and playing “school” every afternoon after watching Sesame Street when I was either 4 and/or 5 years old.

I also remember being scared of the “imaginary ghost” that hid under my bed at night. I was afraid to use the washroom at night because I feared that he would capture me and hurt me. I must have told my parents because they eventually got me a night light to help calm my fears. It did and the “imaginary ghost” disappeared.

I decided to do some research on this topic and here’s what I found:

1 - Children who create imaginary friends are better communicators.  They are very creative and have excellent social skills.

2 - Children who have imaginary friends are either firstborns or an only child.

3 - Children tend to create their imaginary friends between the ages of 3 and 5. They will usually disappear once a child starts school.

4 - Imaginary friends tend to be stuffed animals, an invisible person/object or a
      fantasy creature.

5 - Imaginary friends can be a great comfort to a child when going through a traumatic experience (i.e. divorce, death, a move or birth of a sibling).

Kudos to Matthew Dicks for touching on a subject that many of us wouldn't think twice about. My views on imaginary friends will never be the same. 

"Every imaginary friend can touch the world of human persons."

Did you have an imaginary friend growing up?

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Thanks for reading and keep smiling :)