# Did you have an imaginary friend as a child? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 9, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542 "2018-02-09T19:44:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/21 "2018-02-10T03:03:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Wasn’t Mrs. Beasley the name of the little girl Buffy’s doll in the sitcom [Family Affair](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059982/)? . If so, she got it from me.🙂 (I had Mrs. Beasley long before FA.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/22 "2018-02-10T03:08:05Z")
I have 9 siblings, up to five of whom were living at home at any given time. Didn’t need to make up anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/23 "2018-02-10T03:26:01Z")
Yes, several. Only one was human. The rest were animals. Dogs, cats, a bear, a lion, a cheetah, and a duck. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/24 "2018-02-10T05:11:14Z")
There was Tony, the little boy who lived on my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/25 "2018-02-10T05:16:58Z")
As a child, no. As an adult, some of my friends may as well be imaginary. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/26 "2018-02-10T05:46:49Z")
The lil’wrekker had a friend who lived in the woods and would come play some days and watch disney movies. The friends name was ‘guy-king’. He had to have 2 cookies whenever she got cookies. And he hated baths, because he liked being dirty. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/27 "2018-02-10T06:21:14Z")
According to my mother I did have one, but I don’t remember him. His name was Jimmy, and he was always talking me into doing things I wasn’t supposed to do, like go to the other side of the train tracks. Interestingly, I was later a ventriloquist, but my vent “figure” (ventriloquists hate the term “dummy”) was never an imaginary friend to me. He was just a puppet. ---
**Author:** ![Sveltington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@Sveltington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sveltington)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/28 "2018-02-10T07:46:20Z")
Not as a kid but I have one now and he is HOT! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/29 "2018-02-10T12:57:59Z")
Yes. I was seeing a kiddy shrink for dx for a new condition- autism and apparently they ask about imaginary friends. I had an old man who told me stories, that by the description was my great grandfather. He was very distinctive looking and the only picture of him was several thousand miles away in Florida, where I had never been. He more or less went away by the time I was in first grade. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/30 "2018-02-10T14:43:44Z")
Far as I know, neither I nor any of my cousins did. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/31 "2018-02-10T15:13:05Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Yes, several. Only one was human. The rest were animals. > Dogs, cats, a bear, a lion, a cheetah, and a duck. I’ll bet that was one nervous duck! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/32 "2018-02-10T16:38:11Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > If so, she got it from me.🙂 (I had Mrs. Beasley long before FA.) Hmmm…wonder If there’s any way for you to collect on that. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/33 "2018-02-10T16:42:12Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I’ll bet that was one nervous duck! 😃 "I wonder if that silly duck will remember he can fly… …(splat!)…No, I guess not." ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/34 "2018-02-10T16:52:54Z")
I had an imaginary pet English setter because I couldn’t get a real one. I’d only ever seen one real one, but it had made an impression on me with its long white fringe and black spots. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/35 "2018-02-10T23:02:16Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > Not an imaginary friend, but all my stuffed animals had personalities and talked. Same here but without the talking part. Now is pretty much the same but instead of stuffed animals its motorcycles and a bunch of flintlocks. The noises they make sometimes mean things to me but again I won’t go so far as to call it talking. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/36 "2018-02-11T02:57:44Z")
Nope. I imagined conversations I might have with famous or fictitious people, but even that didn’t happen often. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/37 "2018-02-11T03:10:35Z")
I didn’t but my daughter had an imaginary brother. We had told her teacher she was an only child. But after talking a lot about her “brother” at school things came to a head when she drew her family complete with her holding hands with her brother. My wife and I were a bit surprised when we were called in for a teacher/parent conference and were question quite seriously about the brother. I think they thought we were keeping him locked in the attic. It took some explaining to convince the school there really no sibling. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/38 "2018-02-11T07:19:33Z")
I did. His name was Pierre and he lived in the spaces in the walls. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542/39 "2018-02-11T15:12:57Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I just celebrated my 54th birthday the last day of January, which makes my childhood a half century ago, yet I still remember my imaginary friend that I had when I was 4 years old. Her name was Honey. [This video reminded me of her.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLjhbvlTZGc) She was a good friend who would take the fall for me when I did things I knew I wasn’t supposed to do. > > One very clear memory I have about my imaginary friend didn’t really involve her, though. I was watching Family Affair and the boy had an imaginary bear friend. In the end stepdad took the boy to a fake forest so that he could let his imaginary friend go. > All I could think about for days was how very stupid that was. Didn’t his dad know that imaginary friends are, well, _imaginary_? What kind of grown-up nonsense was that? Why did fake dad make him get rid of his fake friend? It made me so sad. I’d never get rid of Honey like that. Funny how strongly I remember how I felt 50 years ago and can’t remember what I had for dinner last Monday. Do you remember your imaginary friend? Nitpick: Not stepdad, Uncle Bill was their uncle/guardian. A stepdad is a man who is married to the child’s mother, but hasn’t adopted the child. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-have-an-imaginary-friend-as-a-child/808542.md?page=1)