Bella’s Family
by Melanie Bettinelli on December 01, 2011
I continue to be fascinated by Bella’s imaginary family.
Her oldest girl is Jane, who seems to either be about 12 or an adult. In Bella’s world I suppose the two are about the same. Jane is competent and cares for the younger children. She often takes a very maternal role, taking them on outings to museums, to the store, etc.
Gina is the oldest and doesn’t seem to have a very distinct personality. Not as much as Jane. She mainly exists in Jane’s shadow as part of the dyad, Gina and Jane. I think Gina is about 11. Also almost grown up and a caretaker, helper, organizer personality. Both Jane and Gina are deputized to help me do housekeeping tasks that Bella is too young to help with.
Meredith is 10. She’s another older one. I think she used to be one of the babies but has been promoted upwards as other babies have been added. It’s hard for me to keep track.
Then there are the younger ones: Petunia, Kateri, and Baby Rose. Petunia is about two, Kateri is one, Rose is about five months old. When Bella wants to talk baby talk and pretend to be a baby she pretends to be Kateri or Petunia. She’s always regaling us with stories of how Petunia mispronounces certain words. It’s amusing to hear Bella’s idea of how a baby mispronounces things.
Today Bella was telling me a story about Jane taking Petunia to the science museum while Kateri was napping or playing with her cousins.
The confusing thing about Bella’s stories is that she edits aloud as she goes. Often she’ll start a sentence a dozen times or launch into an episode half a dozen times until she gets it right in her head. While she’s doing this I find it hard to pay attention and not let my mind wander. Especially if I’m cooking or washing dishes or otherwise preoccupied.
I think part of Ben’s nighttime talking is a symptom of his frustration that Bella won’t let him get a word in edgewise during the day. He has so much to say and he just wants to be heard. Plus I think he’s just a nightowl and doesn’t want to go to bed as early as his sisters do.
Sophie is much more content to tell stories to herself as she pages through a book. She’ll make up all sorts of things about the small details or about things that aren’t in the book at all. Because she’s less needy of an audience, I don’t tend to pay attention to her storytelling as much as I do Bella’s but it is there.
Comments
Melanie, I really enjoy reading your ‘blog! I miss living with a family and children, so enjoy hearing about a family, but more than that, the things you choose to write about and the way you write are very enjoyable, too. Thanks for this post about Bella’s family—I find children’s imaginations so intriguing, and marvel at their creativity when I see what they come up with. I also love how their hearts are so open to being themselves and being real. If they’re mad, sad, glad, whatever, they don’t [generally] hide it.
Thanks for writing!
Posted by MargoB on 12/3/11 at 12:28 AM
Thanks, MargoB. It’s always nice to know my writing is appreciated.
Posted by Melanie Bettinelli on 12/3/11 at 10:12 AM
Wow! Bella has quite a complex cadre of imaginary friends to keep her occupied! Madeline had three main imaginary friends (although sadly they’ve long since left the premises). Feezy was half-boy and half-lion. Ribbon Lassie (I have no idea where she got the name from, especially since she didn’t know about Lassie the dog when she introduced her to me) was an older girl and so was Kitty. I miss her friends.
Fortunately, her imagination remains very active. She’s always inventing games and writing stories. I love my children’s creativity. They continually inspire me.
Thanks for sharing these glimpses into your family’s life!
God bless.
Posted by Kate Wicker on 12/6/11 at 10:55 PM
Kate, I know what you mean. When Bella was younger Pooh and friends were her imaginary playmates and I kind of miss them. None of the other kids have been very into Pooh like Bella was. Though that might be in part because we so did it with Bella that I’m still a little burnt out. When Jane and Gina and the rest fade away I will miss them too. But I am sure that Bella’s imagination will keep busy with stories and pretends. I definitely feel privileged to be able to witness her creativity.
Posted by Melanie Bettinelli on 12/7/11 at 12:37 AM