Last Updated on March 20, 2018

School in Albania starts on September 6th.  This year my boy started 1st grade. I was dreading having him start school.  School has been hard on my daughter who started 3d grade this year.

She is very smart and creative. She started reading when she was 5 and she is fluent in two languages. When she first started to go to school I thought it would be so easy for her. In our school system though written work is very important.  There is so much writing and writing and  little hands get tired of writing so many pages.

Her teacher called me and expressed concern over her lack of interest and attention. I took a deep breath and said a quick prayer before talking to my daughter again!

“ Oh, dear God please help me with this! Help me not to lose it! Please Lord patience!”

I told her that the teacher was concerned about her lack of attention.

She told me:  “Oh mommy, it is Tinker’s (her nickname for Tinkerbelle) fault! You know she comes to school with me. She hides in my pocket and when we start writing she tickles me.”

I could not help laughing. Also I was thinking she needs to stop this. Stop playing and start doing  her work. But then I wanted to hear more about Tinkerbelle.  I thought I needed a peek into her secret world. She said that when it got boring  she  would have Tinker come to play with her.

“She never bothers me at art class,” she continued “for she hops into my hair and loves to peek into my drawings.”

Then she begged me to not stop Tinker from going  to school with her. I could not keep Tinker home anyway. So I said that of course she could go to school but she also needed  to pay attention and maybe she could also help with ideas for class work.  Then after finishing her work they could both play. Otherwise Tinker could not go anymore.

After a while, Tinkerbelle  quit going to school but as I look back I am thankful for  this  great gift of imagination.  It helped my girl get through some hard and boring days.  Also it helped me understand a lot about her life at school. All I had to do was ask what Tinkerbelle thought!

 

Has your child ever had an imaginary friend? Share your experience in the comments!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

4 Comments

  1. So adorable! My daughter and I shared a similar "imaginary friend" that helped her get through a tough move, we even wrote a story about her friend! Good call mom…imagination is a beautiful thing! Thanks for sharing!

    1. Maklen Menalla says:

      Thank you Tracey! It's fun to know kids all over the world have them. What a great gift and a blessing they are to help our children through tough times! So good to hear you have accepted your daughter's "friend" instead of fighting it.
      Blessings!

  2. The teacher is lucky your gifted, pleasant, creative child has a playmate to visit with while she waits for something that will challenge her in class. You are very lucky to have a pleasant language to use to discuss the classroom situation. Lovely momma.

    1. Maklen Menalla says:

      Thank you Maggie! You are so right! Creative children are a great blessing. They are fun to enjoy and never boring. Thanks for your lovely words.