My seven year old nephew asked for a doll for Christmas. His parents bought it for him. He's now insisting that it's his baby sister and expects everybody to play along. I'm happy to do this as part of imaginative play, but I'm worried he's not actually playing.
I caught him being mean to my son (2 years old) and tried to explain that he needed to be gentle. At some point he introduced the doll to the conversation and I asked him if he understood that my son and his doll were different because my son is a real person with feelings and can be hurt and physically harmed. He screamed that 'SHE IS REAL!'.
This isn't the first time he has behaved like this - e.g. insisting that a soft toy dog is a real dog or that he's a real doctor, etc. He refuses to accept that it's 'pretend' and flies into a rage when mildly challenged or reminded that it's pretend.
Is this normal? It seems almost psychotic when witnessed in the flesh.