"My daughter's dragon

"My daughter’s dragon"

I don't remember the day that "Tingly" left us…and I can't even recall the exact day she arrived. The part I do remember about Tingly is the look on my little daughter's face as she was swinging.

With her head cocked back and her red hair blowing in the breeze she would shout " Tingly look-me go" as I swung her. Tingly was her imaginary dragon friend who was always there with her from about the time she was three until she was nearly five.

She would run out side and point up at a passing cloud and say "do you see her mama?"

At first I thought it quite funny and assumed that "Tingly" would merely be a passing faze…like putting her shoes on backwards…and forgetting her underwear, But somehow, someway Tingly seemed to stick with her.

I remember playing little games with her and tingly and the swingset, and she would always provide me with a play by play view of what her Tingly was up to. If we went to the store Tingly went along.

If we visited a relative, Tingly was always there. If Montanna was sick or under the weather…so was Tingly. She was everywhere and nowhere all at once.

There were times when I would be busy doing something mundane and she would be bouncing around excited about some new adventure Tingly had been on. Sometimes I struggled to keep my excitement for her dragon friend as high as hers was. Let's face it…it is hard to imagine flying dragons when your folding laundry. But to her it was so real.

The look on her little face was one of pure happiness and contentment.

Tingly stayed on and on thru the birth of our second daughter they were like two best buddies off in there own little world. I never realized just how real an "imaginary friend" could be until Tingly. Summer days were spent running thru the yard, riding bikes, and swimming in the creek and Tingly was there for every tear, smile, and skinned knee.

And then one day, as quickly as she came into our world, she was gone. I remember she just wasn't there anymore. I would prod Tanna about it and she would just kinda lose interest and continue on her way. She had apparently outgrown her dearest friend.

It was sad when Tingly left us. Partially because there would be no more summer days of Tingly adventures…and partly because I knew that my little girl was growing up.

Montanna is seven years old now and her attention has moved on to mp3 players and best friends-of- the- little- girl kind. She also has a five year old sister named Presly and a four year old sister named Kaila. I have watched closely wondering if Tingly would return to befriend one of my other girls but alas she has not. Although Kaila has quite a vivid imagination, Tingly has not returned.

It seems silly to think or even hope that your other girls will have an imaginary friend but all I can say is that at the time that friend meant the world to my little girl. And I would wish for any of my girls to have loved a friend like that…even if that friend was an imaginary flying dragon.

So I guess my motto is never discourage an imaginary friend. They usually serve a purpose. The purpose of feeding the mind and fostering the imagination. The purpose of being an ear that never gets tired. A kindred spirit that never lets you down. And a true friend to a child with a good imagination. They also tend to make mamas of little girls smile a whole lot.

My oldest daughter has a knack for being different. The other two love dollies….she loves dinosaurs. She loves bike riding and exploring the creek. She is up for anything exciting and different. Yet she loves simple things like playing in the mud after a rain storm..or telling ghost stories around a campfire. Now Tingly lives inside her heart, and in my memories of my little girl at age four.

Montanna is a beautiful, fun, child…and I think that having Tingly as a friend in part helped her to realize that you don't have to go far to find an adventure. Sometimes an adventure is waiting right in your own back yard.