There’s a new kid in the Pitt /Jolie household. Her name is Amy and she is…imaginary. Amy is 2-year-old Shiloh’s imaginary friend and, according to Star Magazine, she prefers her pretend pal Amy more than her young twin siblings Knox and Viv. At dinner time Shiloh will push away her own plate of food after announcing that “Amy’s not hungry.”
According to a recent study, about two-thirds of school-age children have had an imaginary companion by the age of seven. According to an article on Science Daily “interacting with imaginary friends and impersonation – plays a role in child development, both cognitively and emotionally. This kind of activity allows children to manage social situations in a safe context, such as practicing how to handle conflict with something that may or may not talk back to them. Cognitively it helps them deal with abstract symbols and thought, which leads them to abstract thought about their own identity.”
But my question is, with so many kids in the house, does Shiloh really need to go to the imaginary realm for playmates?
Did you have imaginary friends growing up? And do your kids have one?
