Francine!

Tonight I was introduced during bath time to Joey's friend Francine. I am pretty pumped; this is the first imaginary friend we have had in our house. I heard Joey having an animated discussion while bathing tonight and when I went in to wash him and asked him who he was talking to he gave me kind of a shy smile, looked down at the bubbles, and said nobody. I assured him that it was okay if he was just pretending and talking to himself and that it was called using his imagination and was a wonderful thing. I myself am interviewed by Oprah about my wondeful marriage and how I met the man of my dreams (that is Dean) on a very frequent basis. Anyway... Joe gave me a huge smile and said "I talkin to Francine!" (We are going through an Arthur phase right now and Francine is a character in those books/cartoons so I am guessing that is where the name came from...I love it!) Wow, I said, who is Francine? "Her my friend!" Joe said. Here are the things I have since learned about Francine:

• "Her 2-1/2 like me!"
• She goes to school with Joey
• She went to MOPS today with Joe ("her loved it!")
• She likes to watch movies
• Joey has to explain what is happening in the movie to Francine...in detail
• She has a mommy, daddy, and a puppy. But no brother or sister.
• She is spending the night with us tonight. What fun, a sleepover!

The boys and I rented a new movie tonight (Ben saw it in the theater with Abby but it is new to Joey and I), How To Train A Dragon. When I introduced Francine to Benjamin and told him she would be spending the night with us. He looked at me like I was insane and raised his hand in a halfhearted greeting to our guest.

I, for one, think it is great that Francine has joined us for the evening and maybe for a bit longer. I love Joey's imagination and his creativity. He loves to create masterpieces with crayons, paint, and construction paper, scissors, and glue, and I think this new imaginary friend is just one more way for him to express himself. Welcome to our home, Francine. You are welcome to stay with us as long as you like.