My four-year-old son, Ben, has a new friend. His name is So-So. We all like him very much. He’s imaginary. No, excuse me, he’s INVISIBLE, not imaginary. I’ve been corrected a million times. I should have that straight. So-So is a ghost and he became my son’s friend shortly after Halloween when Ben came downstairs and asked for breakfast for the both of them.
“Can you introduce me first to your imaginary invisible friend?” I asked, as I prepared Ben’s oatmeal. “This is So-So, he loves oatmeal, just like me,” he said as he pulled up a chair for him. I let So-So know right away that I’m the kind of mom who indulges her son’s creative side. “Hello, So-So,” I said as I bent down to shake his ghost hand, “I’m Mommy. Would you like some oatmeal?” Ben assured me he did.
Hmmm, invisible friend = invisible oatmeal. That was my thinking at least.
“There ‘ya go So-So,” I said as I set down a fresh bowl of pretend oatmeal. “Mommy! He wants real oatmeal!” Ben protested. “He’s REAL!” So fine, I made So-So some oatmeal. Ben secretly ate out of both bowls, then declared they were both full and they headed upstairs to play in Ben’s closet. (That’s where ghosts like to play best.)
“I wonder how long I’m going to have to keep this up?” I thought to myself as I polished off the remaining oatmeal from the bowls. So-So went to school with Ben, to church, to the potty. They even slept together. “Give So-So a kiss good-night Mommy,” Ben urges me. And every morning, two bowls of oatmeal. (Good thing I like oatmeal.)
Then one morning Ben pulled up two chairs, one for So-So and one for Knock-Knock– his brother! Okay, I like to “nourish my son’s creative side” (yada yada yada) just as much as any other mom, but three oatmeals? I think not.
“They can share,” I said, and after much negotiation we all–all four of us–agreed: two oatmeals split into three bowls.
Kissing all three goodnight on Thanksgiving, Ben let me know that So-So and Knock-Knock’s dog Coco was here to stay awhile. Yep! Extra dog food bowl! And their sister, TuTu, came as well. “When I asked how long the gang was going to stay, he said until he goes back to school. After that, it will just be So-So again.
So I packed up Knock-Knock, Coco, and TuTu on Sunday night and they were off to…wherever invisible ghosts and their dogs go. On Monday morning I pried my sleepy kids out of bed for school (after a week’s vacation), and it turns out, So-So was far too tired to get up for breakfast.
Sitting at the breakfast table Ben had his favorite skeleton toy sitting in the chair next to him. “Skeleton, would you like some oatmeal?” I asked, I think, very hospitably. “MOMMY!” Ben screeched and rolled his eyes, “He’s not real!”
Argh! Silly me!
Written for my blog at The Orange County Register: “Mommy’s mind is not a toy.”
How wonderful! You deserve the Mommy of the year award! I myself do not have an invisible friend, but I certainly want one now! Maybe Knock-Knock wants to come visit!
Love it! Can’t wait to see who come to stay for the two week break at Christmas. Your a good Mom Suz!
I’d be willing to house Coco until Christmas break. Of course, he would have to eat out of the same bowl as my dog. I can’t play favorites:)
My daughter once had an imaginary (invisible) friend. She tired of the game very quickly, but never forgot about her buddy! We still mention her from time to time:)
Um, hello? Everyone knows skeletons aren’t real. I am not showing this to my kids…they will accuse me of depriving them;) What a wonderful story.
Dexter had an entourage. He had a pack of girls that traveled with us everywhere. It became tiresome when I had to buckle them all into safty seats. He also had a group of guys he hung with, Mu-tan, Jerry Otter, and a few I forget. Ask him today what happened to Jerry Otter and he will tell you he was hit by a train. It is funny how real these ‘friends’ are to our kids.
i was always jealous my sister had “thinking A” and “thinking B.” they lived in her mouth and when she got angry, she’d crush them with her teeth. leslie was also the one that held her breath till she passed out as a baby when she was angry. very well adjusted now though 🙂
thanks for the great story. ben is wonderfully imaginative!
I love this…he is so clever and you really have to keep up MOM…..so cute.
thanks for sharing.
Suz
When you get a so much imaginative son, you must be too. . . . but not too much. The difference between the 2 worlds is very subtle!
This reminds me a Picasso’s quote “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child”. Our children’s world is no more accessible. So much better for them, it’s good to have a secret world.
Thanks for sharing this very adorable story. I enjoyed every second. When you typed Knock-Knock, I thought maybe his sister was Who’s-There?
Oh this brought back so many memories for me (I may have to post about it soon!)
But once my my boys faught over who got to sit next to ‘Charlie’ (imaginary friend of Jack, and Tucker by proxy) in the back seat of the car. That was when I was SICK of CHARLIE. I put him on restriction for the rest of the week. Seriously.
🙂
Shelby also has an imaginary friend named “kitty”. Actually I think she was a cat. But I remember one hot August day we went to the mall, parked and walked into Nordstrom. That’s when Shelby freaked out saying we had to go back to the car and let kitty out because it was too hot for her in the car. So , of course, back into the heat we went to let kitty out. The things we do for our kids 🙂 Interestingly enough, when we got an actual real cat, I mean a cat that EVERYONE could see, “kitty” just vanished. Thanks for sharing the story. That Ben is a cutie pie!!!
Oh, how I miss having a 4-year-old!
I want an imaginary friend to go shopping with me, get my mani/pedis with me, and go see chix flixs with me. Think I’ll call her Josie. I love Josie. I never look fat to Josie. Its never wrong to have dessert and NO DRAMA.
Cute story!!!!
The wonderful imagination and creativeness of a child’s mind 🙂
What a wonderful story – i hope you wrote it down somewhere for him when he’s older. Alrik never had imaginary friends. You are an awesome mom for playing along.
V
Oh, you gotta video tape this stuff. So precious…hey Ben did not introduce me to So-So at church on Sunday. I want to meet these friends too, hey tell Ben Auntie Carrie will make him and all his friends homemade waffles anytime!
Love it! I’m going to start introducing everyone to my “imaginary” boyfriend. And let me just tell you, he’s super cute! ; ) And thanks for the brownie tip!
You’re a good mom for playing along with him. The names are awesome.
Hey Suz-
So Funny!! This story reminded me so much of Dylan when he was 4…”Shadow” stuck around for about 13 months. After Shadow left, I even felt lost. These invisible friends become such a big part of our families and we treat them the same as our own because we don’t want to discourage the imaginations of our children. Great story. Good luck with the Christmas vacation!! Santa’s elves may be coming for a visit…all 4000 of them!!!
Cutest. Story. Ever.
Love this.
This is so funny because I just did a post a couple of days ago on imaginary friends and my Ben does not have an imaginary friend, but an invisible one. Small world.
Your son is creative! Not to mention adorable. Loved this story.
I was particularly charmed that each name had paired syllables, which works very well with Coco and So-so, but not so well with Alexander-Alexander.
THis is such a great story. You are a good mom.
So cute! My daughter also had an imaginary friend…although in her case it was only one, not a whole gang! LOL.