Our house is a crowed, noisy place lately. Most of that is having a three month old who has found his own voice, plus a three year old in general who really like to talk. And talk. And talk. And sing. And talk. She uses up so much oxygen with the nonstop talking/singing/talking that I am exhausted just listening to it (or sometimes zoned out pretending to listen to it...until she pauses for me to answer and I'm utterly confused)!
But apparently we have some other little "friends" who come and go as they please. Let me introduce Cindy, Honey and Jha Jhu (or is it Xia Xou? Could be either based on how Lydia pronounces it). These are my daughter's imaginary friends, or as we say at home "the voices in her head." Sometimes they all come to play, sometimes just Cindy. Frequently either Cindy tattles on Lydia, or Lydia tattles on Cindy, and I am surprised they keep "playing" together with how much they seem to argue. Supposedly imaginary friends are a sign of creativity and broad thinking (at least that is what the parenting articles say). Fingers crossed that is really the case, because some days I think my daughter hears a few too many voices. If it weren't an age appropriate milestone I would be more concerned so we will have to wait and see how long this little friends stick around. It is quite entertaining to listen to her full conversations. She has them out loud and sometimes we hear what all parties have to say (2, 3 or 4 players including herself). Sometimes she only voices her role, but with sufficient pauses to allow others their turn to "speak." We are definitely at that stage where I'm not sure if she is telling me about a real person/event or a complete fabrication. My guess is her stories are often a combination of the two.
Now I readily admit having an imaginary friend as a youngster myself. I don't personally remember her that well, but my mom likes to tell the stories. I like to think I am a good judge of character, so she must have been nice. The only "thing that makes you go hmmmmmm" to admit is my little friend was also named Honey. So either Honey is back, ageless and helping my daughter in and out of trouble, or she had a little Honey of her own. You decide if its cute or creepy.
Maybe I should invite my Honey back? Perhaps then someone might be listening to me instead of talking to myself so often. I'll have to decide which of those leads me farther down the path to crazy-town. Lydia sure is having fun with hers
