espen's dolly

i just finished the funnest conversation with my very unpredictable middle child. he informed me that his friend dolly is sick because her tummy hurts. the conversation went something like this:

"who is dolly?"
"she's my friend and she is sick because her tummy hurts."
"oh... where is she?"
"she's at my home in my room."
"oh.... how old is she?"
"she's two and a half. she's an old kid."

if my friends little girl lucy hadn't had a very present, very busy imaginary friend named ona when she was little, my reaction might have been quite different, but i was oddly thrilled. should espen begin breaking things and blaming it on dolly, my perspective might change. however, the prospect of having a "friend" at our house that espen can play with sounds too good to be true. no pushing, tackling, taking, arguing.... no fights to listen to or break up... or atleast they will be one sided. i am, after all, under the assumption that espen fully plans on being in total control of his new relationship. we will see... but i hope she wasn't just a fleeting thought.

if i had an imaginary friend i think i would name it Ophy.