What's Real and What Isn't
Thoughts for the Week:
Many
children have imaginary friends at one time or another. It sometimes makes
adults feel uncomfortable when a child turns up with an imaginary friend,
partly because this kind of friend can be controlled only by the child, and
partly because adults may worry about a child's sense of real and pretend.
Imaginary friends have a way of seeming all too real from time to time.
It may be
helpful to remember that imaginary friends can play an important role in the
lives of children, allowing them to fulfill wishes through their imaginations.
Sometimes they help children cope with loneliness by being the friend or
sibling who isn't there. Other times, they become the scapegoat who makes
messes or gets into trouble when the child doesn't want to face the
consequences. Wise adults encourage both the child and the imaginary friend to
clean up the mess or set things right again so that children come to take
responsibility for the imaginary friend's behavior as well as their own.
Imaginary friends usually play a brief role in a child's life. They usually go
away as quickly as they arrive. But while they are there, they often provide
the companionship and support many children feel they need.
-- Fred Rogers
Summary of the Week:
There's lots of talk about imagining and pretending
during this week and an appreciation of how many ways we can use our
imaginations -- listening to music, drawing a picture, dancing, even keeping us
company. And, there's a visit to Brockett's Bakery where Ella Jenkins sings
with children.
In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, the neighbors
are imagining about a doll that comes to life and rocking chairs that can fly
and there's talk about what's real and what's pretend.
