Gracie and Her Very Best "Friends"

Gracie has four very best friends. Their names are Lucy and Susan and Peter and Edmund. No matter where Gracie goes, her best friends are right behind her. Poor Lucy has a hurt foot. Gracie isn't sure how it happened, but it is constantly bleeding. Peter's favorite food is spaghetti, so he is always eating it. Susan is Gracie's very, very best friend because she likes her the best, and Edmund's favorite activity is art.

Her Chronicles of Narnia companions appeared in our lives about three weeks ago. She was following me around one day while I was tidying up the house, cooking lunch, packaging orders... much as she usually does.

"Can you play with me, now, Mom?" I heard on repeat every 35 seconds.

"Go play with your sister, Gracie," I kept saying. She didn't want to, of course. Who can blame her? Annelie doesn't share her toys and is constantly biting and scratching - not much fun as a playmate.

"Why don't you go play with Soren Lorenson?" I asked. (Soren Lorenson is Lola's imaginary friend in the show Charlie and Lola aka The Only Cartoon I Can Tolerate). Well, he is good enough for Lola, so it was worth a shot.

"Soren Lorenson is just make-believe," Gracie sensibly replied.

*sigh* "Just give me 5 more minutes, please." I was begging at this point.

And that was when Lucy and Susan and Edmund and Peter came into our lives. They haven't left. When Gracie eats macaroni and cheese for lunch, she asks, "Where is Peter's bowl?" He has one, Gracie. It's just invisible. "Mom, I need a band-aid. Lucy's foot is bleeding again and she is crying." Here you go, Gracie. An invisible band-aid. Perfect.

Gracie plays with them constantly. She used to spend all of her time treading on my heels as she followed me around. Now, the five of them spend hours playing in her room. I'm not gonna lie... I love it. And not just because I don't have a 3 year old shadow trailing me at all times, but because I'm really seeing her imagination coming out. She knows they are just make-believe. She isn't having delusions, I promise. But she is happily creating a world for herself and her very best "friends" and it is so much fun to watch the adventures they have unfold.

She reminds me a lot of myself as a little girl, actually. I spent hours playing with my fairy friends, as I built them a village of their own on our sideyard. The neighborhood kids were all boys and if it wasn't for my imagination and the "friends" I created for myself, I would have been pretty lonely.

I don't expect Annelie to be a rotten little stinker of a playmate for too much longer. I have high hopes that my daughters will happily play together soon. But in the meantime, I don't mind the new Narnia residents who have come to visit. They certainly make life interesting!

For imaginary friend lovers everywhere, here are a few items from Etsy that you might just love!

This Imaginary Friend Suit coloring book, from Simpson, is absolutely adorable. We have two of them and the girls love coloring in the 24 little imaginary friend suit wearing characters.

And they are so cute!! Certainly frameworthy. Here is one of Gracie's colored in pictures. You can find this coloring book at www.simpson.etsy.com

And here comes Audrey, splashing through the puddles with her troop of imaginary friends. This set of 4 notecards from Ouou, is soooo adorable! You can find them at www.ouou.etsy.com

Zak and the Moustache Yak are probably the cutest imaginary duo I have ever seen. I love them. You'll find all sorts of imaginative illustrations in ErikBergstrom Illustration, at www.ErikBergstrom.etsy.com

This Imaginary Friends print by Danita is so adorable! All of her work is fantastic, but this little red dress wearing bunny rabbit eared girl is my favorite. You can find her work at www.danitashop.etsy.com

Enjoy!
xoxo,