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My DD3.9 has always been creative and tells elaborate "tales" as she likes to call them, but lately she has started talking to invisible men, says she seems faces with big teeth, that she is flying to Saturn, saw a squirrel run up a wall etc. Has she gone plum crazy or do some creative kids do this at this age?

I would think it would be quite normal for a child as creative as yours to do this. Our DD at the same age had people who didn't know us personally convinced that she had an 11 year old sister named Mishemba (my spelling, as I still have no idea how she came up with that name) and could tell them all about her, what she did at school, who her friends were etc.

Perhaps it would only become an issue if it were still present at the other end of her life. Then they would call it delerium.

I think it's pretty normal for creative kids. I would be concerned if she seemed truly scared by any of her own inventions or started using them as scapegoats for her own behavior.

Ha, ha. If those things are crazy, my kid is certifiable.

Sounds like normal behavior here!!

Totally normal, for this crowd anyway. DD is always talking to her imaginary friends but usually they are animals. She has been playing with her 'friends' since before age 2, but as she gets older the stories get more elaborate.

thanks for your response. Wow, your DS does have a great imagination! I love the image of buckling Piglet into a seat. I'm surprised your doctor hadn't seen a child who was reading and spelling at that age. I know it isn't common, but after being on this board it actually starts to seem normal. It is a strange relief in a way to hear about other kids doing these same things.

She has been involved in elaborate pretend play for a long time but it has a different flavor to it now. She has also been going to the center of the earth or into outer space etc. She spends most of her time very connected to her environment and isn't frightened of any of these things at the moment. Last night I asked her if she wanted to make up a story and so we sat down and as she told it I typed it for her. I am a published writer of fiction and poetry so I suppose it comes as no surprise that she has this creative streak, but even so, she is so convincing at times "Duck, a black rock is falling from the sky!" that I was wondering how typical that is for most kids this age.

first off, I feel for you in terms of not sleeping. I have a 23 month old and have had plenty of sleepless nights since she was born. I hope you can get some rest today. Does your son nap?

Your son sounds as though he would be a wonderful playmate for my DD. She loves dinosaurs, space, science, etc. We went to this dinosaur show with huge robotic dinosaurs and she went around telling people the names of each one and some details. People were shocked that she could say their names LOL

Sometimes she does get very concerned about certain things and it does sink in very deep. She will talk about death, floods, blindness, and so on and I worry that she is leaving the obliviousness of childhood too soon. I do not openly bring up these topics but she just picks up on them from various sources (she never sees TV that isn't for children so it isn't from there).

My DD is very outgoing, bossy, talkative and enthusiastic but is has been hard to find good playmates for her. She can connect with kids of all ages, and have a good time, but she has never met someone she can really talk to and play makebelieve with on her level. She isn't very tall so even though she might do well with a 6 year old, we don't seem to meet very many. She met a 5.5 year old today that she had fun with for awhile. That's great that you son has a little buddy even if they have different levels of communication.

While is possible it is something it is probably just her imagination. That is about the time DS got his imaginary friend. His name is Boy and he is a boy, don't ya know. His creativity obviously only goes so far, ha ha. At one time he said Boy was 100 years old with no mouth (I am hoping he meant no teeth) and I said Boy had to get a job and move out unless he was little like him. Boy started out as a baby, then he was 4 like DS, then 100 and now he is back to being 4 again.
The other day he was pretending to talk on the phone at a birthday party and he said "Hi, David Crawley" (we don't know anyone by this name????) and he was asking him if he was dead. Seriously, I think this kid is trying to creep me out sometimes!

LOL, I love the wild imaginations. My DS5 came up with an imaginary friend around 2/3 named Pahby (yes he told me how to spell it and that he had a silent H in his name). Apparently Pahby was deaf, blind, and mute so it was difficult to communicate with him. He lived in Brazil with his four brothers but he came to visit from time to time. It was pretty amusing... I hope I wrote that stuff down somewhere because I am already forgetting some of it. Note to all (including self): write more stuff down so this doesn't happen to you : )