Serena? Who?

I am used to hearing Werney talks about her friend Serena. She will goes Serena this, Serena that..... Serena doesn't wants to do her colouring today or Serena got star student today .... blah .... blah ... blah.

Then one day, I asked her how old is Serena? I know all her 5 years old classmates' name by heart now (as my lil' girl here is a chatter box) and I have always thought Serena is one of her kindy mate in other age groups. Then she told me, Serena is my imaginary friend lah. I had a shock!

Is it normal for kids to have imaginary friends? I quickly googled on this and found that many young children develop imaginary friends. It is most common for firstborns and also for children between the ages of three and six. For some children, their imaginary friend could be a toy or a doll and for some others, it is completely invisible to the rest of the world (like Serena here).

Imaginary friend serves as a playmate to the child. To young children, these imaginary friends are quite real. I read that some children used the imaginary friend as their alter-ego, taking the blame for naughty behaviours like not picking up the toys etc. So far, Serena has just been a wonderful playmate for Werney.

Studies have indicated that children who have imaginary friends tend to be "brighter" and certainly more creative than others. In fact, according to Australian and British research, children with imaginary friend are better communicators and become more creative, achievement-oriented adults!

After reading all this, I felt a sense of relief :-)

In the meantime, I will just let Werney enjoys the company of her imaginary friend, Serena. I am sure she will soon grow out of this common childhood phase.