This is normal OP and great for her development. She has an imagination and is using it.

I was at an extracurricular last night with a group of 6-7 year olds playing some elaborate pretend play game. One of their 10 year old sisters showed up and jumped right in. Warmed my heart to see a tween playing like the kid she is! Much better than being too cool for kid fun.

Anonymous wrote:I remember us doing this one time with my friends younger brother about that age. He didn’t seem to mind being the baby even drinking a bottle and getting a diaper.

Yes, little brother always gets roped into being the baby when they play house. I think he likes the attention though

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cat phase is the worst

We are still deep into I’m a cat.

I love it! It’s one of the few things my 7 year olds will play with my 4 year old. Although 4yo insists on being grandma’s dead cat (while alive) which is slightly strange.

Anonymous wrote:My son is age 7, the youngest of his friends by 6 months, and I still commonly hear "imagine that ____" from all of them when they come over.

Why

My son is age 7, the youngest of his friends by 6 months, and I still commonly hear "imagine that ____" from all of them when they come over.

I have a 10 year old boy, soon to be 11, who is playing D&D. The backstories for the characters that he and his friends have built is reasonably impressive. The game play is chaotic and hilarious and very, very slow in terms of moving the game along. They are having a blast. He’s writing a book with his friends, tons of planning and discussion. I see both as a slightly older take on playing pretned.

It’s fine

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I'm more worried about is having 2 kids where the younger one dragging the older one down into younger-childish play, and not vice versa for balance.

How old are they? What kind of games are they playing?

Imaginary friend conversations.

When my kids are talking to each other I hope to see the older one showing more maturity and sophistication and leadership, as developmentally appropriate.
They shouldn't act like a pair of twins.

If they’re acting like twins all the time or your 8 year old isn’t showing more maturity in any situation, then you may have some cause for concern. But play is play. Your 8 your old is probably having imaginary friend conversations with other 8 year olds too. It is developmentally appropriate.

Anonymous wrote:I pretend that I'm a good mom every day.

Haha!

My 9 going on 10 year old still plays tons of pretend. I love when she and her friends are outside playing these types of games for hours on end. I think that is what childhood should be about.

Just because kids are acting like kids doesn't mean that there is anything developmentally wrong with them. The longer kids act like kids the better, adulthood isn't all that great.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I'm more worried about is having 2 kids where the younger one dragging the older one down into younger-childish play, and not vice versa for balance.

How old are they? What kind of games are they playing?

Imaginary friend conversations.

When my kids are talking to each other I hope to see the older one showing more maturity and sophistication and leadership, as developmentally appropriate.
They shouldn't act like a pair of twins.

Why would this concern you in the slightest? What would you rather she be doing, discussing world politics and economic theory? Smh.

Anonymous wrote:What I'm more worried about is having 2 kids where the younger one dragging the older one down into younger-childish play, and not vice versa for balance.

I don’t really care if my 4 year old drags my 7 year old into younger play. For one thing, they’re happily playing together designing forts and rescuing stuffed animals for long stretches of time, in which no one asks for a snack, or to watch tv, or tells me they’re bored. It’s lovely. And for another thing, unlike when my 7yo plays pretend with her classmates that have older sisters, she does not come home either playing “music video” lip singing and giving me bedroom eyes while wiggling her hips, or giving as much sass as she can in her best effort I emulate someone tween sister.

I hate the acting like a baby thing, but it’s better than being rude and oversexualized!

I pretend that I'm a good mom every day.