Imaginary friend

My friends daughter aged 2-5 had an imaginary friend, called Stephen , exactly the same age and name as the child she had lost 17 years before. Nobody knew of that child’s existence because it was such sad and private circumstances .

My daughter had one called Layla and you would see my daughter having long conversations.
I don’t know where she got the name from though as wasn’t at nursery and had no friends called it. Suddenly one day she was gone

My DD had a toy cat Tom who had to travel everywhere with us. Then a 'kind' friend gave her 2 imaginary mice. Supermarket shopping was fun when I had to strap DD into the child's seat, put Tom into the trolley, lift the 2 mice out of the car and then put them in the trolley too. Woe betide me if I put a tin on top of them.

This is so common it's spooky. My eldest daughter used to talk to a man who used to come into her bedroom. She described him wearing a flat cap, an overcoat and carrying a brown paper carrier bag with string handles. I can't help but think it's because small children haven't yet lost their psychic abilities that perhaps we are all born with? My youngest daughter once said to my husband when she was aged 2 "when I die and come back as a baby again, will I be black or will I be white?" She told us that she had been a black soldier. Gave me the creeps to be honest, but we just played along.