Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Should I worry about my creative child?

Hi everyone, I haven't been on in a while, although I still lurk occasionally. I'm wondering if any of you have experience/insight with dealing with a super creative 6 yr old who concocts elaborate imaginary tales on a daily basis. He has done this since he was very young but now that he's a bit older the stories are getting more elaborate. I love the creativity but he also absolutely insists that they really happened and I can't tell for sure if he's just messing with me! lol My husband has gotten used to being accosted by the neighborhood kids when he gets home from work because they have a whole list of things DS told them and they want to verify (I'd say about 20% of the stories are true). He is alos quite good at responding to challenges to these stories (you did not ride your bike to Canada yesterday because I spent the whole day with you. You were with my robot body. I trade places with the robot when I want to go places.)

We have of course talked about the difference between a story and a lie, but what concerns me sometimes is his insistence that some of these things really happened and I can't get him to admit that he made it up! I've started becoming concerned that he may really be blurring fantasy and reality. On the other hand, he is also very contrary so he could be just messing with me too.

Anyone dealt with anything like this?

My four year old son does this too. I am guessing it will be something he out grows and I will miss it when he is a sulky teenager.

To get around my questions about how he has all these wild adventures without me knowing, almost all his tales begin with "Last night while you were sleeping, I tiptoed very quietly down the stairs and out the front door..."

Most recently he went hunting with two cats for ladies' underwear on an island near South America.

He also goes to Oklahoma a lot. And the Arctic.

He was known at his preschool for his stories and would sometimes retell the story the teacher read putting his own spin on it.

My son also argues that these things are really happening. I once told him "If instead of sleeping, you really paid the pigeons from the park a whole loaf of bread to carry you in your pillow case to Oklahoma where your secret robot lab is located, then you must be tired and need a nap". After a brief discussion about him sleeping on the flight he admitted he made it up and didn't need a nap.

I felt kind of bad about getting him to admit it was made up. Maybe when he is six I will feel differently but for now if he wants to believe he really does these things, I am fine with it.

It's completely normal.

Yes. My DD8 was like this and sometimes still is. It's a bit weird and sometimes concerns me just a little, but I think it's just indicative of a highly creative child with a very active fantasy life. (The "robot body" thing sounds JUST like something she would say!)

No, you should not worry.



DH had not only his entire kindergarten class-- but also the TEACHER-- convinced that he had a completely wacky family dog. To the point that the teacher asked his mother about the beast during a conference, much to her bewilderment. No mention of his toddler-aged brother, mind. But the family-dog-that-wasn't got a LOT of air-time, apparently. LOL.

I played free-form fantasy role-playing games with friends well into my tween years, complete with "imaginary" playmates. That is eventually what this sort of thing can morph into, and it's not necessarily an unhealthy outlet for 'trying out' different personal attributes or lifestyle choices to see what fits.

Enjoy your creative and imaginative child.

Aw, I'd forgotten about this stuff from my kids It's sweet (and alarming, lol)

My daughter (9 now) had a penchant for INSISTING that her stuffed toys were real. She would get extremely upset if you suggested otherwise. It's almost as if she saw them as an extension of herself. She would get frantic with worry if they were covered by blankets "they can't breathe," etc etc. Sure enough, it passed. She still has a beloved teddy bear that she can't sleep without (she has a lot of fear of the dark), but she no longer insists that any of them are alive.

My son (8) meanwhile, used to spin tales too. Not quite as outlandish - his were more plausable - sometimes it wasn't clear if he was telling the truth or not. There were times, though, that I knew his stories were fabricated and his insistence that they were real alarmed me. He too has outgrown this.

Yep, I was like HowlerK...crazy tales that became super intricate pretend play: by myself and with friends. I clearly remember being intrigued by the response of others to my stories, as if I was conducting research on viewer response to a newly proposed Tv series. This morphed into creative writing early on (writing short stories by 2nd grade....plays by 3rd). Maybe you could encourage him to start writing his stories out - this seemed to make the line of fantasy clearer when I expressed myself to others.

Thanks so much everyone! This makes me feel much better! lol

And KJP, I am kinda nervous about the teenage years because he is SO good at making stories up. I fear I will never know where he really is! lol ODS folds like a house of cards when I interrogate him, he just can't lie to me, but this one well we are in trouble! lol

And Evemomma, you're write I should encourage him more to write and draw out his stories (he's actually a pretty good little artist). He does this sometimes, but I should definitely more actively encourage it.

Thanks everyone!