Adventures With Imaginary Jackie
David has an imaginary friend named 'Jackie'. Jackie is a girl and she's an "animal rescuer". I suspect Jackie came from the TV show "Zoboomafoo", who is a real person (not a cartoon character) and is featured on the show sometimes. She writes letters to the Kratt brothers about animals she's come across on her travels. David thinks she's cool.
I'm new to the whole "imaginary friend" thing, and as I understand it, it's the smart kids who sometimes make up these invisible pals, not the average-at-best types like myself. And I'm not even certain this is a bona fide imaginary friend as she is really someone he has seen on TV, slightly modified to fit his ideal playmate. She is his age exactly, and apparently she lives in our house and sleeps in a sleeping bag next to his bed. Her favorite healthy food is corn an her favorite "treat" food is chocolate chip cookies. And David wants you all to know (he's standing behind me and knows I'm writing about her) that "We often rescue animals together."
So now we have to buy a minivan, not for the expected baby, but for Jackie, who needs to sit next to him while we're driving somewhere. I'm not allowed to put any toys or books on the seat where she is sitting. She doesn't like that.
I hope this isn't going to turn into one of these horror-movie scenarios in which we discover Jackie isn't really anyone's friend.
"Mommy, Jackie doesn't want you to brush my teeth anymore. She says cavities are a lie you made up."
"Now David, you know you have to brush your teeth to keep them healthy. Jackie isn't real and doesn't have teeth so she doesn't know about cavities."
"Oh, you've made Jackie angry, now, Mommy. She says you'd better be nice to her or ELSE."
"Oh? And what is Jackie going to do to me? Rescue me...from myself?"
(pause as David listens over his shoulder) Jackie doesn't appreciate your jokes, Mommy. Jackie says you better watch your back.
Well, I'm sure the little sweetie is harmless and I don't really expect any problems with this. I am curious to see where this goes and how far David will take the whole game. He is well aware he is "pretending" and has admitted that she is just imaginary. I'm sure there's no cause for alarm.
Oh, I've got to go. David just informed me that Jackie wants her lunch now.
I'm new to the whole "imaginary friend" thing, and as I understand it, it's the smart kids who sometimes make up these invisible pals, not the average-at-best types like myself. And I'm not even certain this is a bona fide imaginary friend as she is really someone he has seen on TV, slightly modified to fit his ideal playmate. She is his age exactly, and apparently she lives in our house and sleeps in a sleeping bag next to his bed. Her favorite healthy food is corn an her favorite "treat" food is chocolate chip cookies. And David wants you all to know (he's standing behind me and knows I'm writing about her) that "We often rescue animals together."
So now we have to buy a minivan, not for the expected baby, but for Jackie, who needs to sit next to him while we're driving somewhere. I'm not allowed to put any toys or books on the seat where she is sitting. She doesn't like that.
I hope this isn't going to turn into one of these horror-movie scenarios in which we discover Jackie isn't really anyone's friend.
"Mommy, Jackie doesn't want you to brush my teeth anymore. She says cavities are a lie you made up."
"Now David, you know you have to brush your teeth to keep them healthy. Jackie isn't real and doesn't have teeth so she doesn't know about cavities."
"Oh, you've made Jackie angry, now, Mommy. She says you'd better be nice to her or ELSE."
"Oh? And what is Jackie going to do to me? Rescue me...from myself?"
(pause as David listens over his shoulder) Jackie doesn't appreciate your jokes, Mommy. Jackie says you better watch your back.
Well, I'm sure the little sweetie is harmless and I don't really expect any problems with this. I am curious to see where this goes and how far David will take the whole game. He is well aware he is "pretending" and has admitted that she is just imaginary. I'm sure there's no cause for alarm.
Oh, I've got to go. David just informed me that Jackie wants her lunch now.
posted by Kristen @ 10:48 AM
9 Comments:
At 4:02 PM,
Cat Jordan said…
David isn't here Mrs. Burden.... (creepy throaty voice)
Ok, it's really weird to call you Mrs. Burden.
Max went through a phase when George Shrinks was ALWAYS around. Man, that little imaginary bloke was downright annoying. He had a little helicopter that he dubbed the Zooper Car and if we forgot that when we left the house all hell broke loose. I'm not sure that show is even on anymore.... oh well.
Give David a hug for me!
At 4:39 PM,
M J said…
Hi, this is Jackie.
I would appreciate it if you wouldn't write about me on your blog anymore. You are trying to diminish my altruistic feats by rescuing animals.
I also think that you need to take David and myself to Disneyland. You might want to get that Marnie person to tag along, since she knows Disneyland well. I am also using Marnie's computer to leave this comment... so please don't get confused by the user ID. I've yet to sign up for my own blog. I'll send you the URL once it has been established.
Signed,
A not-so-imaginary Jackie
At 6:12 PM,
Ernesto Burden said…
Huh, and I thought he was saying Jackée.
At 7:25 PM,
Anonymous said…
Me and my imaginary friend used to do "My Little Pony" paint by numbers.
Does the "smart kid" thing get countered by the fact that we did paint by number instead of freestyle art?
Although, wait, I think we did fingerpaint once.
And her name was "Daphne", because that was the most beautiful name I had ever heard. Thank God I'm not seven anymore.
At 1:14 AM,
Flea said…
I've read about this once and if I can remember I think the advice was to go with the flow, don't tease or tell off, etc but let him use and develop a healthy imaginary (wish he obviously already got). I also play pretend games with Liam at 18 months already, we pop our hats on "POP" and demonstrate. Good on him, what a clever boy you got.
At 10:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
I had an imaginary friend named "Jamie." It was during that period of time before I was in Kindergarten yet all my three older siblings were in school all day. She lived behind my mom's favorite chair in the living room. We used to cut up old egg cartons together and paste cool shapes together out of them. Those were fun times! :)
At 1:07 PM,
Anonymous said…
REDRUM REDRUM
*ahem*
Sorry...don't know what came over me there.
My sister had an imaginary friend named Casper. She obviously had very little imagination. Jackie, on the other hand, sounds awesome!
At 10:36 PM,
Kristen said…
I had responded to all of your comments, but apparently Blogger really hates me. This is the third time I've tried to do that and had them not post. I guess it's Blogger's subtle way of telling me not to comment on my comments. Anyway, a funny note about Jackie- We went out to dinner tonight with the kids and when the host brought us to our table, David was all concerned because Jackie did not have a place to sit. I suggested she sit on the window sill next to the table but he said that "would be dangerous". Eventually we determined she was going to sit on the invisible chair at the end of the table. Luckily Jackie didn't order anything. This time.
At 7:04 AM,
Cat Jordan said…
If I were imaginary Jackie, I'd order the surf n' turf and that really nice bottle of wine....
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