An Imaginary Grandma

We have a new member in our household lately. I am unsure of what she looks like, sounds like, or really much about her other than the fact that Harper loves her. Harper has created an imaginary friend who she calls Grandma. At first I thought she was possibly confused because we call my mom, Mimi, we call Josh's mom, Gama, and my stepmom goes by Nana. No one goes by grandma. I didn't think much of it until she kept talking about things Grandma told her, or bought her, or showed her how to do, that she was talking about someone that wasn't real to us (but very real to her).

I will admit once I put it together that Harper had an imaginary friend, I was a bit freaked out. My initial concern was why on earth would she create a grandma? She has 3 fantastic grandmas and two super awesome great grandmas. Is she sad because she doesn't see them a lot? Is she trying to tell me something? I also was worried that maybe this is a result of her being a more shy person and she feels lonely and is creating a friend? So many things have gone through my head and I was talking about it with Josh the other night and he had no concern about it whatsoever. 'She's a toddler Brenda, she is just using her imagination." Yeah yeah yeah I get that, but what if she's that weird kid that doesn't want to socialize with real kids and make friends with other kids because she feels better with an imaginary grandma? *sigh*

Of course I enlisted the help of the internet. I searched "is it normal for my toddler to have an imaginary friend?" To my excitement it is absolutely a very normal situation and often a result of children who have an active imagination, a rich vocabulary and a great capacity for independent play. About 65% of children create imaginary friends once they enter preschool. They create them as a way to start learning good from bad and to gain some control over situations. Toddlers do not have a lot of say in their lives and with an imaginary friend they have total control over them. Having an imaginary friend is a way for a child to build a sense of security or comfort with situations. "Don't be afraid of ______, its not scary at all." What I read mentions to not make a big deal about their friend yet don't contradict her and tell her that her friend is not real or is "just pretend." In due time this phase too shall pass. Being a parent and having children is so interesting and weird and always keeping me on my toes...Welcome to the family Grandma, we will embrace you and love you for as long as Harper has you around =).

Not sure if the video I posted below is going to work or not but I had to try and share it. It's Harper singing a song she made up to Josh and Paxton when they went to run an errand. I could die from her popsicle stained face singing cuteness! Happy Thursday all! I'm off to start prepping our baked Taco Thursday night dinner! Yum!

Quality Time

Yesterday morning I woke up, got the kids up and dressed and brought them downstairs for breakfast  to begin our process of getting to school on time. About 10 minutes later Josh came downstairs, not dressed in work clothes, which is rather unusual. He had been telling me for over a week that he had a surprise coming for me on Tuesday (yesterday.) I was expecting to drop the kids ofF, run a few errands, then go meet him for lunch and receive my surprise (I had no clue as to what it might be.) To my surprise, the surprise he had for me was that he had taken the day off work and we were going to be able to have an entire 5 hours to have a day date while the kids were at school. BEST. SURPRISE. EVER.

We dropped off the kids, went by the liquor store to pick up the release of Boulevards new beer flavor, a white IPA (yes we are the crazies at the liquor store at 9:00am), grabbed a quick egg sandwich at Subway, and then went over to the mall to kill some time before our movie began. The mall was so quiet and stranded and although we didn't do any shopping, it was so nice to simply walk around and talk with Josh without having one child in stroller who doesn't want to be in there and another running around while I panic to make sure she's close enough so no one can steal her (yes I have a constant fear that my children will be kidnapped, I can't help it.) We then drove over to the movies and saw Gravity in 3D. The movie was good, I wouldn't say it is something I want to watch again, however I am glad I saw it, and it successfully does a great job of getting all the emotions out of you in which it intends to. I was scared, nervous, sad, jumpy, dizzy, and joyful. Plus the special effects were amazing, definitely a better movie to see in the theater than at home.

After the movie we went over to one of our favorite restaurants and ate a lovely lunch on the patio while we soaked in the last hour of our alone time. It was truly the perfect day and I felt so incredibly special that Josh had not only planned this out just for me but that he had kept the secret for a few weeks! Great job babe, that may have been a record for longest kept secret by you! =)

Below are some pictures I took from the Louisberg Cider Mill Pumpkin Patch Festival that was going on last weekend. It was such a fun morning and our kids are finally at the age where they are both able to participate and have a blast at events like this. We fed goats, drank apple cider, picked pumpkins straight from the vine, took a hayride, and played in the children's maze & teepee area. I love fall festival weekends!!!