Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Imaginary Jaxon

I’m not sure the typical age for imaginary friends but O’s age for them is about five and a half years old. Last night, she was in the throes of imaginary play and her friend was Jaxon, her very real cousin.

My youngest brother had an imaginary friend from about three until he was at least six. His name was Jan Ban. He was very naughty.

Last night, Imaginary Jaxon was quite naughty too. Olivia giggled often as she relayed his antics to us. First, he wouldn’t eat his dinner. He kept throwing it on the floor. Then, he climbed out the dining room window so he could go swimming.

Tom and I played along, often reprimanding Jaxon for these behaviors, reminding him he was too young to swim alone and that he needed to keep the window closed because it was too hot outside.

At one point, Tom had just about had enough of Jaxon’s rudeness and told Olivia we were going to call Jaxon’s dad to come pick him up.

Olivia put her hands on her hips and informed Tom, “Daddy, Jaxon’s dad is at work! That’s why he’s here and spending the night.”

She asked me over and over again if Jaxon could go to Gram’s the next morning. I told her that he could go only if she was willing to share her car seat with him. After all, a four year old can’t ride in the car without being in a car seat. She was fine with that, she declared she’d just sit on him.

I know how very lucky we are that Olivia speaks at all and that she’s speaks as well as she does. And I am so grateful for her imagination. With that said, I feel guilty for sometimes asking her for just two minutes of quiet. My girl has a lot on her mind and she wants the world (or at least me and Tom) to know about it all.

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