This is a fascinating thread.
Like others here I'm very curious to learn more of what the OP's daughter says of "Mary," but something tells me the parents shouldn't quiz her
too much on this. Nor should they repress it or stop her from thinking along these lines.
If the parents get too much "into" the story, it might "muddy the waters," and the kid might start embellishing the tale or lose the pure thread
of connectivity to whatever she is experiencing...the experience will take on tones of "what do mom and dad want to hear/not hear? How can I please
them or not make them mad?" Once this happens, instinct tells me the kid might lose the contact to the original experience and the whole thing could
become more imagainary/mixed up in her mind. Also, like a lawyer asking "leading questions" to a witness, it could implant parential ideas in the
kid's head (intentionally or otherwise) and contaminate the purity of whatever she is expressing.
On the other hand, you don't want to make her stop talking if she has something to say, or make her feel she can't talk about it...it strikes me as
a delicate balance between communicating too much and too little with the child on this topic.



