Me and My Imaginary Friend

Those of you who know us well know that McKenna has had an imaginary friend for years. Her name is Lola, and her presence around our house is getting slightly annoying. I know it's somewhat normal for kids to have imaginary friends, but this is getting out of control. I keep waiting for her to grow out of it, but I swear it gets worse every day.

Lola has been a member of our family for about 3-4 years. She used to live in our basement with her family, but apparently her parents and brothers all recently died in some horrific accident and now Lola has taken permanent residence in whatever space is next to McKenna. Now, I only have boring, unimaginative eyes, so I can't see her it the posted picture. But I'm told she looks exactly like McKenna, only with green eyes instead of blue. And her favorite color is purple instead of pink. They are always wearing the same outfit, which they think is totally awesome. To quote McKenna, they're "TWINERS!! Wha-Hoo! *tsst*" (The *tsst* noise is made to sound like a little sizzle while they touch their forefingers together...totally cool, right?)

Lola always draws her own pictures (which, of course, always turn out just like McKenna's), and she eats every meal with us - sharing whatever McKenna is eating and drinking...and yes, McKenna really does mime giving her bites and swigs of her drink. She goes to dance and school with McKenna, and they play together all the day long. McKenna even announced to me yesterday that her very best friend in the world is Lola. Heaven forbid her best friend is an actual, real, human being. This Lola obsession has had Brandon so worried, he even made me ask the doctor about it at Nathaniel's last checkup. The doctor informed us that McKenna has a perfectly healthy mind that is only improved by such a wonderful imagination. He thinks it's great, especially since Lola is of McKenna's own design and not a character who already exists. Of course, her doctor can think it's great all he wants because he doesn't have to put up with being told that he can't sit in a certain chair because Lola is already sitting there...ugh. Isn't imagination fun?