Say Hello To My Little Friend

I got a sibling as a toddler, so I had a built-in playmate my whole childhood. Then more brothers came along to add to neighbors and school chums, making a whole troop to play with and confide in and even battle with sometimes. I never had an imaginary friend because who had the time? I loved pretending but my fellow actors were always real, live boys and girls and even pets. When I became a mom, the first small person I got was a dedicated pragmatist. Keilana could pretend but most fantasy play seemed strange to her--why would we have a tea party when there isn’t any actual tea? But then I got Connor and everything changed. That little boy not only appreciated pretend, he lived most of every day in a fantasy world of his own making. Everyone was allowed to come visit and play any time, but he took up residence there. His private realm was peopled with characters, both real and pretend, and had countless little storylines running at any given time--which he would tell you about at great length if you had a minute (or an hour) to listen. It’s not that Connor didn’t have anyone to play with, he just loved playing so much that he could never get enough. In Bernard Most’s My Very Own Octopus, another little boy imagines what it would be like to have a tentacled friend always at his side. Connor had a seal, but I don’t remember any octopi.

http://www.amazon.com/Very-Own-Octopus-Bernard-Most/dp/0152563458

http://www.bernardmost.com/