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"Not Seeing" Is Believing
The Real Life of Imaginary Friends By Mark Stackpole
"More often, parents have to set limits with respect to the extent to which the imaginary friend is catered to," says Gleason. "For example, most parents might be willing to set an extra place at the table at home but not ask for a larger table in a restaurant."
And what happens when a child no longer feels the need for that extra place setting at dinner? Do they simply go away as they did for Lauren Fuller? The evidence indicates that while they seem to disappear by the time a child reaches the age of 6,imaginary friendsmay not really be gone at all.
"Some evidence suggests that children keep their imaginary friends longer but may simply internalize them," says Gleason. "That is, they may no longer be discussed with other people, but children still think about them."
Wherever they may go, Lauren Fuller still thinks about her old friends, and she believes strongly that they have positively affected herthroughout her life. "I find it very amusing to look back on my imaginary friends," she says. "I truly remember them, and thinking about them actually gives me a sense of comfort. As an adult, I am most comfortable when I am surrounded by people and interacting with them. I definitely think that having imaginary friends can be linked to how I act as an adult, especially in social situations."
Hohlbaum was not bothered at all by the fact that her daughter developed an imaginary friend. Instead, she came to see it as the natural outgrowth of spending so much time in a fantastical Seussian world. "I realized that was Dr. Seuss' intention," she says. "Imaginary worlds are precious places, the nook in which childhood resides."
