Claire has an imaginary friend. But we don’t dare call her “imaginary” because Claire will fight you on that one. Sally is real.

Because these “friends” are completely age-appropriate and because this is right in line with cultivating creativity in our children, we let Claire go on and on … and on about Sally. And she most certainly does. She’s a total Chatty Cathy right now.

Every day this thought runs through my mind: I wish I could record her saying these things. I know many of you relate. Younger children truly do say the funniest things. But the thing is, we can’t tape a personal recording device to our kids. That’s just too weird. And we can’t have them repeat what they say because that’s just not genuine.

So this morning as Claire was telling us more about Sally during breakfast, I decided that starting today — I am going to record everything she tells us about Sally. And so I picked up my notebook (where I keep all of my creative brainstorming for so many different things) and a pen and … I began to write. I recall doing something similar when Porter and his “friends” — Mad Ducky and Bambi — were little.

This is a start to what’s going on with Sally at the moment (so much can change in a day):

Since this notebook is handy at all times, I will jot a note down whenever Sally comes up. Then what? Well Sally most certainly will have a place in Claire’s scrapbook, wouldn’t you say?

Do what you can to record your child’s creative thinking and imagination. Don’t feel guilty about what you wish you could have recorded in the past. Start now. Take pictures of them when they get in their own little world. Write down things they say right when they say it so you can record it as accurately as possible.

Not a scrapbooker? Keep a journal. Not a writer? How about this: One journal per kid or one journal for the whole family. Heck, everyone can contribute if you want. Whenever anyone hears something funny come out of someone’s mouth, just jot it down in the journal. Doesn’t have to be beautifully constructed paragraphs. Just get something down on paper. Quotes are a great start.

They grow up so fast.