My imaginary friend

Hard to establish what it was this far down the road... Did you ever have any negative experiences with Benson? Did he ever get angry? Ever frighten you? Was there any abuse in the home?

I asked my mother if I ever had any issues with Benson and she said she wasn't aware of anything.

No, there wasn't history of abuse. My parents didn't even spank me. I was never abused in any way, shape, or form when I was young. I didn't witness my parents arguing until I was older. I think I had a fairly normal childhood.

reply to post by witchfinder

The op's imaginary friend was called Benson,mine was called Bobo and yours was called Borgus.Perhaps it's just a coincidence that they all start with the letter 'B' and sound fairly similar.I never thought of this before,but do you think it's a fairly common theme?

I was making that connection at about the same time I read your post. My youngest son had an imaginary friend when he was 3 named Bouncer. I'll have to ask him about it. Haven't thought of Bouncer in years. My husband had an imaginary friend too but his name was Johnny.

My hubby didn't learn English until he was 5 so he didn't have many friends until he started school. What's strange is his first real friend was named Johnny. They'd still be good friends if we hadn't moved away. Oddly the imaginary Johnny was killed when he was hit by a car. My hubby doesn't remember being too upset about it. Sounds kind of traumatic to me.

Thanks for the thread BrandonK. It brought back fond memories of my little one bouncing around with Bouncer. Seeing how he's in Iraq right now I'm a little choked up. Boy you hit home.

reply to post by Morningglory


I can't imagine what it must feel like to have a child serving in a war. I hope he comes back the same way they took him.

I have two children and they will be turning two at the end of May. From what I've read, most kids start having imaginary friends at around three. I can't wait until my twins start using their imagination more. It will be interesting to see if they each develop an imaginary friend. There's no way to know for sure but I believe neither will have an imaginary friend. I suspect they will see each other as a constant companion and never be bored. Again, there's no way to know for sure.

I'm not totally against the idea of my children having otherworldly friends. I just hope their imaginary friends, if they do have them, are simply that, imaginary.

reply to post by BrandonK

I really didn't think I would have to deal with one of my own being sent off to war. We raised our boys to be well educated so they never had do to physical labor. It went well for our first born but the economy failed our second just as he graduated from college. At least he's not infantry.

I had never considered imaginary friends could possibly be other worldly entities. I always thought it strange that my husbands imaginary friend was killed by a car. He lived in a very old home on a busy city street. So who knows. It just seems strange for a 5 yr. old to come up with such an ending for his "friend." My husband was never a behavior problem. At 5 he was pretty alone and had been going through eye surgery since his birth.

I think for the most part it's pretty harmless unless of course the child gets too immersed in his imaginary world. My son's friend Bouncer just seemed to not be there one day. When he was 3 big brother wasn't much of a playmate for him. Sometimes I think he felt he had 3 parents his brother was a bit bossy. Now they are very close.

It's just kind of creepy to think children might be playing with ghosts instead of imaginary friends. Made me think of the Sixth Sense. If a bad home environment has anything to do with imaginary friends it seems I should have had one instead of my hubby. Very thought provoking thread.

Edit for spelling.

[edit on 20-4-2010 by Morningglory]

Edit to include: What I did find interesting are the names Benson, Bobo, Borgus and Bouncer they're not really typical names for children. For that matter they aren't really names one would hear on a regular basis. Maybe it's just silly made up names. Idk I hate to dismiss anything children say or do.

[edit on 20-4-2010 by Morningglory]